Unexpected Family
by FaeryMage
Summary: The Family Reconstiction Act is in effect. Now the Wizarding World must be convinced to comply; in the meantime, Dr. Sally Po concentrates on the Gundam Pilots and the Peacecraft siblings while observing the "oddity files" that are actually Magicals. Harry's third year at Hogwarts is in for a different kind of interesting.
1. Chapter 1

Gundam Wing/Harry Potter crossover by FaeryMage

CHAPTER ONE-INTRODUCTION

In the year 197, the latest war involving Mobile Suits had come to a close, the Barton Uprising had been thwarted, and the undertaking of the Family Reconstruction Act was well in hand. Most of the population of both Earth and the Colonies were registered with a blood sample on file. There were five young men in particular who had a workstation dedicated to them in hopes of finding unknown family members.

As stated, most of the population had registered. There were those who tried to avoid the now-legally required doctor's appointment. One such example was Vernon Dursley of Little Whining, Surrey, England. This individual has supported the Alliance, and in turn OZ, and was decidedly bigoted towards anyone not like himself. However much Vernon tried to avoid registering with his family, Grunnings (the drill company he worked for) had already supplied all employee records to the section of government overseeing the FRA. And so it was after several noticed ignored that a light duty Preventors agent was assigned to corral the family to the nearest FRA-approved clinic. The Dursleys grumbled and hem-hawed but ultimately complied.

As was protocol, each family member was isolated from the others during the procedure. First, the dangerously obese man went into the exam room, then the contrastingly thin Petunia. Things became complicated when the rotund son, Dudley, let slip about his orphan cousin that stayed with them over summer as the cousin attended a distant boarding school. The clinic's doctor managed to get Dudley to talk quite extensively about Cousin Harry, and what she heard disturbed her.

Doctor Martha Jones made a show of having to step outside of the exam room for the sample supplies. She subtlety signaled the on-site Preventor to join her in the office. Preventor Noah frowned as the doctor relayed what she had just found out about the supposedly household of three.

Preventor Noah radioed his partner, Nicole, who was canvassing the Dursleys' neighborhood. Nicole was in the cat-overrun house of a Mrs. Arabella Figg when the radio sounded and her partner conveyed a condensed version of what Dr. Jones said. Mrs. Figg the cat lady watched on in fascination, which Nicole thought odd.

"Are you and the man talking about Harry Potter?" Arabella queried. "I babysit him from time to time. The boy is away at his boarding school, won't be back for a couple days yet. Young Harry is an orphan. Lost his parents at fifteen months old, he did. Been living with his maternal aunt, Petunia, ever since. She and her family say such foul things about the boy, but not true a'one of 'em, I say. Harry's always behaved when I watch him."

Of course, Arabella Figg hadn't registered with the FRA, so Nicole convinced the old woman to go with her to the clinic when the Dursleys returned.

The rest of the day passed with little to note. Preventers Noah and Nicole submitted their report to their supervisor with a note of needing a follow up visit for the fourth member of the Dursley household.

A week later, Agents Noah and Nicole returned to the Dursley house. Noah was to distract the family while Nicole located Harry. She found him in the back garden. As Nicole approached the boy, she frowned at the sight of him. The twelve-year-old boy -almost thirteen- looked closer to ten, considering his size. Dirt stained thin fingers, and horrendously oversized clothes adorned his thin frame as he weeded the flower patch. The neckline of worn tent of a shirt slipped to show a bony, scarred shoulder. Messy black hair, pale skin, and a pair of spectacles with bulky, round frames seemed to make his young face thinner still.

"Hullo," Nicole whispered. The boy startled then stared at her with wide green eyes. "I'm Nicole with Preventors. My partner and I are making sure everyone is registered with the Family Reconstruction program. Would you happen to be Mrs. Dursley's nephew, Harry Potter? You weren't here when we took them to the registration clinic."

"Err," the boy hesitated. "I am Harry. Aunt Petunia doesn't want me talking to people, though. You might want to leave before she notices you back here talking to me."

Nicole gave a small chuckle. "A trained Preventor agent versus a house wife, oh dear." She smiled kindly at Harry. "Actually the clinic's attending doctor pieced together that your relatives are not pleasant towards you. So, my partner is distracting the Dursleys, how about we get you registered, yeah? Dr. Martha is waiting in our vehicle."

He boy nodded his consent. He clambered to his feet and dusted himself off as best he could. Nicole led him to the van marked Preventors parked at the other side of the street. They headed to the back doors, and Harry was surprised to see the portable, mini exam room tucked inside.

Martha Jones was well aware of the limited time she would have with her patient. That she was operating from the back of a Preventors van only showed how determined she was to see to the boy's condition. By the sounds of it, the Dursleys hadn't been kind to him at all. One does not simply dangle a possible child abuse case in front of a Jones woman and expect nothing to come of it. Especially with Martha's younger sister working in Child Services.

So while Noah distracted the family and Nicole collected the child, Dr. Jones prepped all the required paperwork and supplies. Of course, she intended to perform as complete of a checkup as possible from the back of a van. She had even brought a few things from home- a tape measurer to check his height and a bathroom scale, for example. Her Polaroid camera at at the ready on the minuscule desk. "One should never underestimate a Jones," she mused. "We're like the Borg from Star Trek. Resistance is futile."

It was as the doctor was snickering at the mental picture of her family as Borg, that the back doors opened. Martha grabbed the scale and tape measurer as she hopped out. "All right, then!" With that Harry's first real mundane checkup started, as unorthodox as it was. As efficiently as she worked, Martha still managed to entertain the boy with inane chatter about an American-accented friend that apparently refused to die no matter what happened to him. Getting shot, electrocuted, car crash, falling from great heights - somehow the man just kept bouncing back.

Soon enough the checkup was complete and the required samples taken. Dr. Jones smiled as brightly as she could and gave Harry a hug in farewell. Preventor Nicole escorted Harry back to the flower garden of Number Four Pivot Drive.

Moments after the young boy resumed his weeding, the back door of the house opened. Vernon Dursley stood in the doorway a moment, silently observing his nephew maintain the flower plot. The man was still a bit red in the face from his discussion with Preventor Noah. "Boy!" Vernon shouted and took pleasure in seeing Harry jump in surprise. "This man from the government is going to take you to a clinic for blood tests. Make you don't have any freakish diseases." The walrus of a man shuffled aside to let Noah step onto the patio.

"Hullo, there," Noah greeted cordially. "I'm Noah from the Preventors office. Today I'm helping to make sure everyone is in compliance with the Family Reconstruction Act recently passed. Your relatives were processed last week, you see. They tell me you hadn't returned from school by then, so I'm back. Why don't you freshen up a bit, and we'll be off to the clinic, yeah?"

Harry glanced to his uncle for confirmation, and the big man snapped, "Hurry it up, boy! Don't go wasting the man's time!" With that, Harry scurried to the hosepipe to rinse off the worst of the dirt before heading inside to wash with soap and change into a fresh set of clothes.

Preventor Noah met him at the bottom of the stairs and led him out to the van where Nicole and Martha waited for them. The side door opened from within, and Martha grinned at them from the back seats, while Nicole patiently sat in the driver's seat. Since all of the clinic work was already performed in the very back of the van, the four merely went to lunch instead. After the meal, they dropped off Dr. Martha and her medical things at the clinic. Then the Preventors agents regretfully retuned Harry to the Dursleys. Noah and Nicole walked with him to the house, and both made sure to speak loudly enough for the obviously eavesdropping neighbors that Harry behaved perfectly at the clinic while registering for the FRA database. Nicole even went so far as to that it was a shame that Harry was not taught about the rest of his extended family and especially about his deceased parents. Noah added on that the Preventors database listed Lily and James Potter as members of a vigilantes group that opposed a vicious terrorist group that had a notoriously high death toll considering the relatively small area targeted. Petunia simply stood on the stoop with a strained smile, knowing that information would reach the entire neighborhood so enough.

With heavy hearts, the pair of agents left Pivot Drive. They could only hope that the Dursleys wouldn't be too hard on Harry. In the short few hours that they had known him, that underweight child had already grown on them.

Doctor Sally Po busied herself between three monitors displaying results from the FRA blood samples. Her caramel-colored braids bounced as she took in the irregularities in each sample's file. For example, a boy in Britain had an apparently rare venom and antivenin from species of snake; another case had a strange virus that Po had never even seen before.

A fourth monitor acted separately from the other three. This monitor and its processing system appeared to be searching for familial matches for seven people in particular. The five Gundam pilots and the Peacecraft siblings, to be specific. DNA results already shown that Relena and Miliardo were only half siblings, so the royalty-born pair were added to her 'special care' list.

Another thing Sally had taken notice of in the oddity files, was that an increasing number of samples had unfamiliar antibodies. The venom/antivenin boy and the strange virus child also had the newly noted antibodies. In fact, there had been enough occurrences of the antibodies to warrant a new file tag, which Sally already programmed.

Sally Po completed her notes on the files on the three monitors and submitted the saved data to be added to the complete registry. The next three 'oddity' files populated on the monitors, and the process started again.

Meanwhile, Peventors Director Lady Une sat in a meeting with the hidden leaders of Earth. The 'hidden leaders' were the Ministers of Magic of their respective countries and the representatives of the International Confederation of Wizards/Witches. Lady Une had taken migraine medication before the meeting as a preemptive measure, and it appeared to help.

Most of the Magical people opposed the implementing of the Family Reconstruction Act on their citizens. One might assume that the gathered witches and wizards didn't understand what the point of the FRA actually was. It was with such a notion in mind that Une drew their attention to the projection screen. Displayed was a Preventor agent that had previously thought himself to be the last of his family.

"Lloyd Renfield from the United Kingdom was a survivor of a terrorist attack eleven years ago. The remains of his mother and sister proved their deaths but his father was assumed dead as many bodies in that area were horribly disfigured." The screen changes to what some of the magical folks recognized as the street Sirius Black supposedly blew up to kill Peter Pettigrew. "Llyod went on to be raised in foster care. It is thanks to the FRA's efforts that we located Llyod's father and found that Theodore Renfield had thought his entire family lost to the exploding gas line. Llyod now spends his downtime getting to know his stepmother and half siblings."

A new photo from the projector showed one Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard that the grandfatherly Albus Dumbledore recognized. "This is Ted Tonks, also of the U.K. We discovered he has a half-sister and a number of nieces and nephews in the Colonies. As I understand it, they continue to exchange correspondence."

The image changed to a young woman apparently mourning. "Since the FRA database includes the medical files of the Alliance and OZ, we have been able to inform waiting families as to the fates of their relatives. Shown here is Margret Danvers. It is currently believed that her uncle, OZ serviceman Henry Danvers, died protecting the Winner family heir, Quatre Reberba Winner, from a misprogrammed Mobile Doll. Mister Winner has expressed his gratitude to Ms. Danvers (as she was Henry's next of kin) and had initiated a trust fund for her children."

A photo depicting an elderly woman clutching a stuffed animal soon occupied the screen. "Nadrene Elhurst recently recovered from leukemia. The FRA had found her estranged son, and he donated bone marrow to help fight the disease. Andrews now has a chance to see her grandchildren grow up."

The next image displayed an orphanage's occupants. Children ranging from toddlers to teenagers, and all ages between, stared at the camera with hopelessness shining in their eyes. "You have heard the success stories, the positive outcomes. This is the heart of why the Family Reconstruction Act was established. The recent wars, both Mundane and Magical, have left countless children without any known relatives. We aim to reunite families so that these children have a better future. The FRA is a mission of compassion. In this photo, ladies and gentlemen, are children of magic; each has shown signs of accidental magic and been placed together until we can find their families, or at least foster families."

"That one there," Albus Dumbledore pointed to an older teen with long brown hair hanging in a thick braid over his shoulder. "Who is that? He quite resembles one of my former students."

A wry grin curled Une's lipsticked mouth. "That is Preventor Maxwell. He was either orphaned or abandoned on Colony L2 before he even knew his given name; his current name is one he gave himself. Having grown up with bursts of accidental magic on the streets, he often checks in with this orphanage and others like it."

From there, the magical leaders and their advisors put their heads together to discuss the information provided. One of the top supporters for the FRA was, of course, Albus Dumbledore; he was marginally opposed by the British Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (who was thinking of Lucius Malfoy's continued, erm, support). With a majority vote of the Ministers and unanimous vote of the ICW, the gathered magical leadership decided to embrace the Family Reconstruction Act.

While most of the magical communities were fairly aware of the world events in recent years, the United Kingdom's magical population, by contrast, grew more removed from the happenings of the Mundane world. Of course, there were exceptions, but those were few and far between. Ted Tonks, for example, tried to keep abreast of the world he was born into.

When the FRA came about, Ted convinced his family to register. Two months later, he received a letter informing him of a half sister who lived in the space colonies. Ted had hurried to the nearest international communication center and made a video-call to the contact number listed in the letter. The call was crazy expensive but worth it as he not only spoke to the younger woman but got to see her as well. As it turned out, Ted's father has fallen ill towards the end of his Hogwarts years; the man recovered but Ted's mum was killed in a Muggle bank robbery a few years later. Tonks Sr. had mourned but ultimately remarried without informing Ted.

Another magical citizen that followed the outside world was werewolf Remus Lupin. Considering jobs were hard to come by for werewolves in the Wizarding World, Remus often found work in the Muggle world. At one point, he had found a job that honored his request to have a few days off around the full moon (citing religious reasons); but once he discovered the factory was making supplies for the Alliance, he quit...with a two week notice. No point in blemishing in his work history, he figured. When the Gundams started attacking military bases, Remus paid more attention to the news coverage. He stood in shock as Sandrock was destroyed to allow the other suits - and its pilot- to escape. He unknowingly wept alongside Duo and Trowa as the Deathscythe Gundam was destroyed on live television. The wold mourned the loss of WEI's CEO and praised the man for his bravery. Similar praise and sorrow for the destruction of L5. So many lived lost, and the werewolf grew frustrated with how little wizards and witches cared. When the Family Reconstruction Act came about, Remus considered registering, but the fear of his 'furry little problem' outweighed his desire to reconnect with family.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was also aware of the war with the Gundams due to his job as an Auror. Kingsley was acting as a bodyguard to the Mundane British Prime Minister, after all. The concerns shown by the Muggle Minister was, quite frankly, refreshing after dealing with Fudge's "it doesn't affect us, so don't worry about it" spiel. If the Alliance managed to destroy a Gundam over London, it would damn well affect the Wizarding World.

Another magical citizen to watch the happenings of the nonmagical side, was none other than Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody. Of course, the retired Auror deemed the Gundam pilots worthy of his assistance. A tracking spell, disillusionment charms, apparition, and his magical 'mad eye' - the grizzled man would use every tactic to locate the pilots safe houses and leave a trunk with various survival necessities. Canned food, jerky, bottled water, some basic hygiene products (they were teenage boys, after all)' and warm blankets filled the trunks. Safe houses aside, Alastor would creep while under either an invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm

onto a base under attack and startle everyone on on the base's radio frequency by shouting his customary "Constant Viligence!" (amplified by Sonorous) into the microphone. And then, still under his cloak and charms, he'd stun whoever he met along his escape path.

Moody managed to attend some of Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft's public political appearances, only to stun and bind would-be assassins. The retired Auror voluntarily registered in the FRA, using a random phone number and his mundane post office box for contact information. No word yet regarding any previously unknown relatives.

Dr. Sally Po was in the 'oddity file' lab when the fourth computer beeped an alert. Sally startled but exchanged her current clipboard for s blank one to take notes on. According to the monitor dedicated to a certain seven people, a partial match had been found. What brought a disbelieving smile to the doctor's face was that, apparently, Gundam pilot Heero Yui had a half brother on the paternal side. According to the half brother's file, they were born roughly three years apart - Heero being sixteen-ish and the boy nearly thirteen.

Sally frowned, however, when she read the special note on the younger boy's file. According to Dr. Martha Jones, who registered him, Harry Potter was small for his age, showing obvious signs of malnourishment, neglect, and abuse. Dr. Jones advised that Harry would likely need relocating should any additional family be found, as his maternal aunt and her family treated the child poorly. Also of note, Harry was one of the oddity files, having the venom/antivenin in his blood stream.

With all notable details jotted down, she called her superior to report in. Sally bounced on the balls of her feet, her braids thumped against her shoulders. Lady Une answered the direct line in just two rings. Before the director of Preventors could greet the doctor, Sally blurted, "One of the boys has a partial! Paternal half brother."

Une gasped minutely. "Which one, Sally?"

A large grin stretched across Dr. Po's face. "The Perfect Soldier, Heero Yui. Who'd have thought we'd get a hit on him before the others?"

"Well, he is 01, after all. Perhaps Duo will be next," the bespectacled woman joked. "Send me the report, and I'll inform Heero."

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! FaeryMage is back with a new crossover fic. I know there are tons of similar GW/HP crossover fan fictions available, especially of the Harry-related-to-pilot variety, but I couldn't resist. I hope you have enjoyed reading "Unexpected Family".

Provided that I can post this chapter to ff .net, I'll continue writing for "Of Wizards and Demons: Hogsmeade's Devil Hunter". I really hope this works.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Wow! I am floored by the response this fic has received. :") Haha, I bet it had something to do with Mad-Eye Moody startling the OZ bases as mentioned last chapter. Anyway, I hope this installment is satisfactory. THANK YOU!

Oh, right. Disclaimer. I forgot it last chapter. Basically, I don't own the characters used in the story and make no financial profit from the story.

"Unexpected Family" PART TWO

The Weasley family were enjoying their trip to Egypt. Part of what made the vacation so pleasant was that the eldest of the Weasley brood was stationed there. Bill Weasley worked as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts, the Goblin-run bank. He was more than qualified to lead his family on a tour of the pyramids and the tombs within.

At one point, a reporter from The Daily Prophet arrived to take a photo of the family. True to their nature, twins Fred and George had wrangled their oldest brother into the photo. Bill couldn't help but think it just a little odd that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, posed on the boy's creature's strange behavior was shrugged off, and the photo was taken.

The photo appeared surrounded by its accompanying article in The Daily Prophet. Of course, it was developed using magical means so the twins occasionally tussled with their siblings, Ginny curled her hair around her finger, Molly chastised the rough-housing children, and Athur appeased his fussy wife. And Scabbers scurried from one of Ron's shoulders to the other.

Some time after the article and photo were published, Britain's Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, visited the Wizarding prison, Azkaban. His stroll became more of a strut as he entered the section for captured Death Eaters. It had become a favored past time for Fudge, to read off bits of the newspaper in an attempt to taunt the inmates. After a couple of paragraphs of an article, Cornelius would ask one of the prisoners their opinion or try to guess what happened next. Once the plump man tired of teasing with information of the outside world, he'd usually toss the paper into a random cell.

On this day, the vacation photo of the Weasleys caught the eye of one Sirius Black. The gaunt man locked his piercing gaze on the small creature scurrying across a boy's shoulders; the suspicious creature seemed to scamper as if it could feel his stare through the photograph. Intuition and instinct commanded Sirius to investigate further. He politely requested the paper from Fudge, and the Minister rewarded his good manners by slipping the wrinkled paper through the bars.

The smug wizard's departure went unnoticed as Sirius studied the photo. Pale blue eyes seemed to glow from the ever-present shadows of the cell. "A rat missing a toe on its front foot. I've found you, traitor," and then a particularly disturbing laugh echoed down the holding block.

While most of the Wizarding World was adopting policies to register their citizens according to the FRA, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic tried to indefinitely postpone enacting the new protocol. Mostly, the pureblood families were pressing/bribing Minister Fudge to avoid the FRA. Dumbledore, however, was dutifully reminding the younger wizard, and in a booming voice so whoever happened to be near heard him. Of course, when the headmaster did this, ministry workers would inquire what he was talking about.

Despite Fudge, Albus brought up the FRA in an open Wizenmont session. The minister sputtered in indignation, but the voting body raptly listened to their Head Wugmump. The session's audience murmured a bit about this new idea.

The headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry also brought the Family Reconstruction Act to the attention of his staff. Here, he received affirmative responses right away. Professor Filius Flitwick did pose the question of how the Muggle test would account for hybrids, such as himself and Rubeus Hagrid; to which Albus readily admitted that he had not thought of it and was quite eager to know for himself. The fully human staff inquired where the registration would take place. Dumbledore replied that he would have the answer before the next faculty meeting.

Professor Dumbledore's odd way of spreading the word of the FRA was surprisingly effective. Already many shops along Diagon Alley and the branching Alleys had informed their workers. The owl post office found themselves needing to rent additional Muggle P. to handle the sheer number of people needing a Mundane address on the registration paperwork. The shop owners of Hogsmeade inquired if perhaps a registration clinic could open in the small town. Minister Fudge was soon bombarded with questions of the FRA protocol and regulations.

Lady Une sat across her desk from one of Preventors' most effective agents. The agent sat unnaturally still as his boss's statement sunk in. He, Heero Yui, somehow had a younger half brother. He ignored the slight tremble of his hand as he reached for the file Sally Po had collected. Dark blue eyes pursued the data hungrily, and a crease formed between his wild eyebrows as he regarded the attending doctor's report and the attached report from the overseeing Preventors.

"So," Lady Une prompted. "Do you want to meet him?"

Astute blue eyes peered at her through the mess of untamable hair. "Affirmative. And I will make my own assessment of his well-being. If his maternal relatives treat him as poorly as Noel and Nicole suspect, a change of custody may be in order."

The director nodded and steepled her fingers in front of her chin. "Also, Agent Wing," the use of his code name intentional, "the United Kingdom's populace, the hidden communities, are much slower than the other magical ministries to register. While you are getting to know Harry, please impress the seriousness of the FRA onto Minister Cornelius Fudge." At Heero's raised eyebrow, Une chuckled. "Perhaps like the confection, he'll melt a bit under the correct kind of heat," she smiled at his eye roll. "I want you to help get the magical citizens registered. You have authority to mobilize a medical tech team if you deem it necessary, but you would have to head security if you do."

Heero Yui, pilot of Gundam Wing, met Une's hazel-eyed gaze. "Mission accepted."

Two days after his meeting with Lady Une, Heero stood beside Ted Tonks on a London street. "Thank you for escorting me to the U.K.'s Ministry of Magic, Mr. Tonks."

The wizard gave a pleasant laugh. "Not a problem, Agent. I was going to drop by my daughter's desk anyway. She's an Auror, like a magical equivalent to a police officer, and her department's offices are within the Ministry. So it's no trouble at all."

They walked nearly half a block before Ted spoke again. "Any ideas on what you'll say to convince Fudge to comply with the Family Reconstruction Act? If he's held out this long, I suppose you must have quite the argument on the way."

Heero shrugged. "I have several lines of discussion available. I will adapt to whichever meets the situation, depending on what the minister says."

Ted nodded, and the pair continued to the guest entrance, which was disguised as a telephone booth. The wizard received a badge that read 'pestering family', while Heero's badge read 'Preventors Business'. The next major hurdle was the wand-check desk, as the teenager didn't have a wand - he checked in his side arm Berretta instead, much to the clerk's confusion. The Preventor warily eyed the flying paper airplane memos in the lift, but he ignored them like everyone else otherwise. Ted pulled the young agent along to the Aurors' offices and rapped his knuckles on the door with the nameplate 'Amelia Bones'.

At the call of 'Enter', Mr. Tonks opened the door, and the two men went in. The wizard explained the situation to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, introducing Heero in the process. Amelia decided that she could use a break from her paperwork and that a show of support would likely further the Preventor's case. The newly formed trio soon became a quartet as Nyphadora Tonks, Ted's daughter, joined them. Back to the lifts and the swarm of folded memos overhead.

As luck would have it, Author Weasley of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts stepped into their lift. The redhead noticed Heero's visitor badge and curiously questioned him about the organization. Then came questions on the mechanics of a pistol, the purpose of a rubber ducky, and how electricity worked. If anyone who had know Heero Yui for more than a day were to see this, no doubt that person would be surprised at the former Gundam pilot's show of patience. Arthur was so caught up in his questions that he didn't notice that he had followed the group to the minister's office.

The group of five came to a halt at the pervasive "hem hem" of Undersecretary Delores Umbridge. "Do you have an appointment? The minister is a very busy wizard, after all," the woman simpered.

Heero snorted at the sight of the witch. "I've heard of fairytales where a prince is turned into a frog. That spell must be gender-specific." The unpleasant looks his companions were shooting at the toad-like witch broke at the teen's comment; the DMLE head tried to stifle her reaction, but Arthur and both Tonks couldn't help the at least smirking if not snickering.

Amelia took advantage of Umbridge's outraged sputtering to usher the group into Fudge's opulent office. Once the door shut between them and Delores, Arthur, Ted, Nymphadora, and Amelia broke into various levels of laughter while Fudge himself seemed confused. The younger Tonks clapped a hand onto Heero's shoulder, "I like you already!"

"Now, what is the meaning of this?" Cornelius Fudge pounded a pudgy fist on his desk.

Madame Bones took the lead. "Minister, I have been made aware of a new international law that has yet to be implemented."

The minister took in Heero dressed in his full Preventors uniform. Then his pale blue eyes scanned the assembled witches and wizards before him. "Yes, yes. Well, details to be arranged, Madame. Lots of odds and ends to be seen to."

"Other countries with larger magical populations have had no problems," Heero replied.

And so at least an hour was spent with Minister Fudge hem-hawing with excuse after excuse, and the others countering every attempt to dismiss the issue. At nearly an hour and a quarter, the Floo activated, and Lucius Malfoy stepped into the room.

"Minister," the blond nearly purred, "you were late to our luncheon, so I came to fetch you myself. Ah, I see you have company."

Heero grunted, then shook his head in contempt. He reached into the inner pocket of his Preventor jacket to retrieve two envelopes. The agent slapped one envelope to Fudge's hand and the other to Malfoy's arm. The names of the wizards appeared on their respective envelopes. "You have officially been summoned to register in accordance to the Family Reconstruction Act. You have five days to present yourselves and your families to the address listed within, or else Preventor agents will be dispatched to escort you."

With that, Heero turned around and left the office, the others followed him without a word. Once they were in the lifts, Arthur snickered. Then Ted chuckled, and Nymphadora giggled. Madame Bones smirked. Heero merely crossed his arms.

Somewhere, in an Earth-stationed Preventors office, a parchment filled in with names and addresses. Recently added via magic was Cornelius Fudge; swiftly following that name was Lucius Malfoy, with the names Narcissa and Draco branching off. Soon the name and address of Delores Umbridge joined the list as Fudge passed the envelope to his undersecretary. Preventor agent and witch Juliana Romandy typed the newly appeared information into her computer, adding the data into the database.

The residents of Privet Drive, Surrey, noted a non-descript rental car driving up and down the street. What they were unaware of was that the driver was cursing the nearly identical houses, as they were throwing off his sense of direction. At last the dark blue sedan pulled to a stop next to Number Four's driveway, and the driver climbed from the car.

Number Five's housewife peered over the fence to see the young Chinese man in a Preventor's uniform knock on the Dursley's door. He waited a moment then knocked again. The housewife cleared her throat, "They're not here, dear. The Dursleys left about two hours ago."

Chang Wufei turned his dark-eyes gaze to the neighbor. "I see, thank you. Do you, by chance, know if they took their nephew, Harry, with them?"

"Oh my!" the middle-aged woman simpered. "Is that boy in trouble? Petunia did say that he goes to a boarding school for incurably criminal boys."

Wufei raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I can't say I've ever heard of such a school. But no, Harry Potter is not in trouble with the Preventors. I'm here because the Family Reconstruction Act registration database found a familial match on his father's side of the family."

The woman gave a bright, fake smile. "That's lovely news. Petunia and Vernon are always talking about how that boy is a nuisance. Perhaps this new relative will take him."

Hands fisted behind his back, Chang tried again, more directly this time. "Did the Dursley family take Harry with them?"

"Hmm? They may have left him with Mrs. Figg. She's a bit batty, Mrs. Figg. Collects cats like some people collect stamps."

With a stiff bow, the young man returned to his car and headed to the cat-lady's house. Again, he had to circle the block to verify the address. Wufei parked next to the driveway and cautiously approached the door. A quick knock on the door was met by the yowling of what he could only assume to be guard cats. He happened to glance down and noted a calico paw swiping at him from the letter flap.

The scuffling sound of house slippers barely raised while walking slowly got closer. An old woman grumbling about cats underfoot could be heard through the barrier. Soon enough, locks turned over and the hunched elderly woman cracked open the door.

Despite mentally preparing himself for the smell of too many cats in far too enclosed of a space, the smell still winded the former pilot. Wufei coughed into his fist, hoping to clear his throat. "Hello. I am Chang Wufei with the Preventors."

The little old woman interrupted. "I have already gone to the clinic to get registered for that Reconstruction Act. Oh, did you all find someone related to me? That would be exciting."

Well, this is awkward, Wufei thought. "Mrs. Figg?" He continued at her confirming nod. "To my knowledge, we have not yet found a match in your file. There is still roughly thirty percent of Earth's population to register, so don't lose hope. Actually, we have a familial match on a boy named Harry Potter. His neighbor said he might be with you."

Mrs. Figg gasped in surprise. "Mr. Chang, please tell me. Is the match to a living person or deceased. Little Harry was orphaned at fifteen months old, you see."

The Preventor found himself smiling at the woman's concern. "The match is to a living person, ma'am. In fact, I know this individual personally."

Arabella Figg nodded to herself. She'd been telling Dumbledore for ages just how cruel the Dursleys were to Harry; maybe now he'll have elsewhere to go. "All right, Mr. Chang. Harry is inside. Why don't you come in, and I'll put on the tea."

And so Wufei entered the cats' den. He soon found that his years of martial arts training helped him be mindful of where he stepped amongst the various furred creatures. The agent was led to a quaint sitting room. Dark eyes could barely discern the shape of a boy slumped across the loveseat, what with all the cats that made themselves comfortable on him.

"Those awful Dursleys work him to the bone. Poor dear is exhausted, so I'll wait to wake him until the tea is ready." With that, Mrs. Figg bustled into the kitchen.

Wufei took in the room with a sweeping gaze. Floral wallpaper, a few china plates hung up, a curio cabinet full of generic knickknacks, a matching set of two armchairs and loveseat, and a wooden coffee table with glass insets. And of course, over a dozen cats congregating in the room. As for the boy, dark hair obscured part of his face,the crooked glasses hiding another part, and a cat rubbing its head against his chin barely left his mouth visible. Far-to-large clothes hung off of his thin frame in repose. Dirty, scuffed trainers hardly fit to be called shoes rest on his feet. The agent frowned at the boy's apparel.

The teakettle whistled in the kitchen, and the woman could be heard muttering to herself as she pulled it from the stove. Shortly after, clattering china echoed towards the sitting room. Wufei hurried to the kitchen and offered to carry the tea tray Mrs. Figg had prepared. She thanked him and complimented his manners. With the tray in Wufei's steady hands, they re-entered the sitting room.

Apparently the steaming kettle had woken Harry. The boy sluggishly sat up, rubbing his eye before straightening his round glasses. He opened his mouth to ask something but froze at the sight of the stranger.

Dark eyes met emerald green momentarily. "Hello. Chang Wufei of Preventors. I'm here as a follow up for the Family Reconstruction Act registration."

"Let's set down to tea, dears," Mrs. Figg urged. Tea time passed uneventfully. Biscuits were eaten, tea drank, and cats sat all around. "Now, Mr. Chang," the old woman put her cup and saucer back onto the tray. "You said earlier that the registration database found a familial match."

The Chinese man dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "Yes. It is protocol to verify the findings at a clinic, where possible. Then the parties have the chance to meet and introduce themselves. In this case, Preventors' top medical personnel have verified the match, as this match is to someone of special interest." Wufei mimicked the hostess by placing his saucer and cup onto the tray. "As I understand it, you, Mrs. Figg, are watching Harry while his relatives are away?"

"Yes, they're on a day trip, and didn't want to leave him at home alone."

Harry shifted, uncomfortable being spoken about as if he weren't there. He was glad his babysitter seemed to have found new family or at least news of a missing relative.

Wufei nodded. "In that case, I'll be escorting you both to the clinic, where we'll meet that familial match."

Mrs. Figg clapped her hands in excitement. A crazy cat-lady she may be, but she caught how vague the agent had been. "Harry, be a dear and rinse the tea things. Just set it in the dish drainer when you're done. I'll write a note for your aunt."

The nearly-thirteen-year-old nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Figg." With that, Harry collected the remainder of the set onto the tray and hurried into the kitchen.

Former Gundam pilot Chang Wufei almost felt bad for not telling Heero's half brother the full truth. Part of him wanted his stoic friend to see the surprise on the younger boy's face. Another part of him swore he spent too much time with one Duo Maxwell for the sudden mischievousness. Still, he schooled his face into a neutral expression as he idly surveyed the room again. The only difference he noted was that one of the many cats must have been laying on a previously unseen newspaper. Black brows drew together in confusion - it seemed the partially hidden photograph emblazoned on the front page moved.

Wufei glanced to Mrs. Figg, who sat with her back to him as she wrote out the note for the Dursleys. Confident it would go unnoticed, the Preventor gathered the paper for a quick look over. Indeed the picture moved, showing a man being restrained as he laughed hysterically. The headline identified him as murderer Sirius Black.

A gasp from the elderly woman drew the agent's attention to her. Arabella Figg held a trembling hand over her heart. Her wide eyes flashed from the paper to Wufei's face and back again. Apparently the young man understood her shock and sent the newspaper under the sofa cushion with a wandless, wordless spell, guided only by a subtle hand gesture and will. Now the Squib had a new reason to gasp.

Harry stuck his head around the corner, having heard the gasps. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Figg was quick to cover. "Just realized I'll need to put out more food and fresh water for my babies."

The bespectacled boy nodded before returning to his task. Wufei offered to help fill the cats' many dishes, which was accepted. Harry returned to the sitting room as the last bowl was set down. Soon enough, the trio was on their way to the meeting place.

Preventor agent Duo Maxwell reclined in a waiting room seat in the FRA approved clinic. He would occasionally check the GPS in Wufei's phone to keep his best friend from overreacting. For said best friend, overreacting could include stalking the Little Whining suburbs with an automatic machine gun and who knows how many side arms.

Duo could admit, three agents seemed a little much to fulfill a simple FRA meet-n-greet. Between Dr. Jones's suspicions of abuse/neglect and the fact that the familial match was for Heero Yui, the extra manpower made a bit more sense. Heero was the one who had a new brother, so his presence was a given. Duo was there to observe if the boy showed signs of the suspected abuse, but his accidental magic had flared destructively when he'd witnessed the abuse firsthand before. And so, Wufei was the neutral party to escort the half-brother. The agents that the boy had previously met were on assignment in another part of Surrey.

Speaking of those previously met, Dr. Martha Jones had just sat next to him. The woman glanced at the pacing Preventor and asked, "Have they got into the car yet?"

Duo watched Heero abruptly turn in that strange way he did while pacing. "Yeah. It looks like they're finally on the way. Wufei's had to go to a different house in the neighborhood to get the boy. I guess it took a while to explain what's going on. I mean, it's a lot to take in for a normal nearly-thirteen-year-old, right?"

Martha nodded. "I think some adults have trouble initially, too. For some, it's a big shock, being told there's family they never knew about. Or if family they had thought dead suddenly pops up."

The clinic doors whooshed open to admit two people. Heero spun to face the newcomers while Duo and Martha leapt to their feet. The two males paused at the sudden attention, then were confused at the sense of disappointment radiating from the others.

Amos Diggory placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Um, hello. We've come to register for that Family Reconstruction whatnot. Is this the right place?"

Dr. Jones approached the two with a happy smile. "Right, you are in the right place. I'm Doctor Martha Jones. Those two," she motioned to Heero and Duo," are waiting for someone." Martha fetched a clipboard from behind the reception desk. "Now, I'll take you two back to the exam room separately, so you, sir, will come with me, and the young gentleman may wait here. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes for each of you."

The fifteen-year-old turned wide brown eyes to his father. "It'll be alright, Ced," Amos assured his son. "Take a seat, and I'll be back in a jiff."

Duo, who was still standing, threw an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "Don't worry, kid. Dr. Jones is nice, and the procedure for FRA registration is simple, if a bit time consuming. Your dad is in good hands." Gundam Deathscythe's former pilot led the boy to a seat and chatted on about what to expect in the exam room.

Heero stepped outside for a bit of fresh air, murky sunlight, and a moment of quiet. He - the Perfect Soldier - was nervous to meet a boy roughly three years his junior. He could admit to himself that it was strange; he felt no apprehension on dangerous, near-suicidal missions, yet his stomach seemed to clench and roll today of all days. Heero supposed that the boy was a complete unknown to him, is what caused the pseudo-nausea. The air, dim sunlight, and quiet didn't really help his nerves, but he stayed by the door until he saw Wufei's rental car pass on towards the parking lot.

AN: And there's chapter 2! I hope you have enjoyed it. The highly anticipated meeting of Heero Yui and Harry Potter will occur next chapter, along with some humor from the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Unexpected Family, part 3

AN: Hello, dear readers! I hope you enjoy this chapter. You can expect a bit more humor than last chapter. We'll see more Wizarding characters here, as well as the meeting of Heero and Harry.

Disclaimer: I own neither the world of Gundam Wing nor Harry Potter. The characters and locations belong to their rightful creators.

Chapter 3

There were times Chang Wufie wished he required hearing aids. Such instances were rare, but the idea of turning a little knob and whatever annoying chatter would become inaudible, was quite tempting. Especially now that he was driving with a bonified cat-lady in the car. At least Harry was pleasantly quiet in the backseat.

The streets had surprisingly light traffic, the Preventor noted. Of course, he was accustomed to large cities with a much higher population. The occasional grassy park and cluster of trees he found as a nice change from concrete building after concrete building. Nearly any scenery was better than that cookie-cutter neighborhood, Wufei supposed with a shudder.

At long last, after constant inane rambling about cats, the car turned onto the road with the clinic. Wufei ignored the urge to drive faster to escape the confined space. He didn't mind cats, he really didn't, but he was nearing his breaking point. On the short distance to the parking lot, a figure near the automatic doors caught his attention. Messy brown hair, a loose green tank top, faded jeans, and hideous yellow trainers. Yep, that's Heero, the Chinese teen thought to himself.

Harry Potter was a little excited. He had expected to spend the entire day at Mrs. Figg's house, surrounded by cats. He had at least managed to let his snowy owl, Hedwig, out of the house before Vernon had practically dragged him out to the car. Despite carrying the scent of predator bird, the boy still had gotten covered with cats. Some of the felines hadn't liked him from the start, but he hadn't had them laying on him before. But he was somewhere new, and that sparked a bit of excitement. Harry was also curious to see Mrs. Figg's recently found Family member. The young wizard agreed with his babysitter as they clambered from the car, it was rather exciting .

By the time the trio reached the clinic's doors, Heero had already gone back inside. Wufei lead Arabella Figg and Harry Potter through the threshold, then he chose a clear space of wall to lean against. Shenlong's former pilot noted the brown-eyed teenager who Duo seemed to be distracting from the assumed upcoming procedure. The Japanese pilot straightened from drinking from the shiny water fountain. Mrs. Figg took a seat a polite distance from the others, with Harry sitting at her side.

The brown-eyed teen stared at Harry for a few seconds. "Excuse me a moment," he told Duo. Then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Hello, Harry. Having a good summer so far?"

"Er," the green-eyed teen startled, "not too bad. But, urm, how do you know my name?"

"Oh! Sorry. I'm the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory." The now identified Cedric blushed in embarrassment. "Um, my dad and I are here for the Family Reconstruction registration. We're sort of hoping to find some of my mum's family."

Harry nodded. "Good luck, then. My neighbor, Mrs. Figg, just received word of a found family member. I was at her house and was brought along."

For her part, Mrs. Figg was glad to see Harry interacting on friendly terms with the other boy. Dudley had turned all the children in their own neighborhood against him. She smiled at Cedric's polite 'congratulations' directed at her.

Duo and Heero both leveled confused expressions at Wufei. The Chinese teen smirked and mouthed the word 'surprise'.

Wufei pushed off from the wall. "Actually, Mister Potter," he paused until the three non-Preventors looked at him, "that isn't entirely accurate." A mischievous smile twisted his lips and his dark eyes twinkled in mirth. "The match in our database was for you, not Mrs. Figg."

Harry was pretty sure he was gaping like a goldfish out of water. He quickly thought back to everything the older teen had said at Mrs. Figg's house, only to realize he never really specified which of them had the familial match. A clap to his shoulder startled him out of his shock. Cedric grinned at him and squeezed his shoulder.

"Me?" Harry whispered, "but I'm an only child, my parents are dead, and I live with my mum's last living relatives."

The Chinese Preventor crouched in front of Harry's chair. "According to our specialists, the match is a half-sibling through your father's side of things. I happen to personally know this individual. I can already tell some similarities features between the two of you."

"My-my dad had another kid?" The green-eyed boy breathed deeply.

"Yes, it would seem," Wufei confirmed. "He, like you, is an orphan, and we know nothing of his mother. But he is here to meet you."

Still reeling in surprise, Harry glanced around the room. There was Mrs. Figg beside him, Cedric a couple seats down, an older boy with long braided hair next to Cedric, Wufei crouched in front of Harry, and another older boy leaning against a wall. He recognized the outfit belonging to the person that has stood at the clinic doors as they had driven to the parking lot. Now that he was closer, Harry noticed the intense blue eyes staring back at him. Wufei's mention of similar features rung true as he studied the older teen.

Heero's dark blue eyes met Harry's green eyes across the room. His mind flashed to the medical report, and indeed, Harry was small and underweight for his age. The younger boy was dressed in oversized cast offs that could almost be considered rags, as he appeared even smaller. A large bruise shown from under the floppy sleeve that reached his elbow. Behind bent, round glasses, Harry's green shown with wonder.

Due observed, unusually quiet. Despite his care-free exterior, he had been hyper aware since Harry and the old lady arrived. He mentally catalogued details about the boy, everything from the baggy clothes to the partially visible bruises to the glasses he suspected might not even be the correct prescription. Another thing he noted was how Heero's hardened gaze seemed to soften just a bit when he met his half-brother's stare. Duo really wished he had an inconspicuous camera on hand.

Wufei gracefully rose to standing. He strolled to Heero's side and nudged the other teen. "Your turn."

The former pilot of Gundam Wing Zero automatically moved forward. He stopped approximately an arm's length from Harry. "I am called Heero Yui, as my original name was lost. I look forward to getting acquainted with you." Heero offered a handshake.

Harry shakily stood and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. "I'm Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you, Heero. I have to say, it's going to take a bit before this seems real to me. Came unexpectedly, it did." The youngest teen shook hands with his half-brother.

The room seemed to hold its breath as everyone waited for something to happen or to be said. A moment later, Dr. Jones led Amos Diggory to the waiting room. A look of relief graced the man's features, and he and his son exchanged smiles.

"You're up, Ced," Martha called. The brown-eyed teen ambled over to the doctor while his father sat away from the teenagers and whatever kind of drama between the the two messy-haired boys.

Arabella turned to Amos. "Half-brothers meeting for the first time. Oh, this is exciting!"

Harry awkwardly shifted his weight. He was becoming increasingly uncomfortable under Heero's intense stare. "So, um, do you go to school or have a job?"

Heero gestured toward Duo. "Shall we sit?" The two sat next to the braided teen, who smiled encouragingly at them from his seat. "To answer your question, I work with the Preventors. We are...like international, intergalactic police." The former pilot hesitated just a heartbeat - he wasn't good at small talk. "Where do you go to school?"

"It's a boarding school in Scotland. My parents attended there, so they invited me to go, too. That boy, Cedric, he attends too, but we're in different Houses, err - dormitory groups." Harry played with the hem of his shirt nervously. He might have gone into more detail about Hogwarts, but Mr. Diggory might overhear and then they'd all be in trouble. "Do you live close by?"

"My primary residence is in the employee housing near the Preventors' main office. It is a spartan apartment, and I am often away on missions. I am currently stationed near London."

Duo decided to join the conversation. "Our boss entrusted Heero with a very important mission while he's here. A sort of 'since he's here anyway' kind of situation. Poor Hee-man has to convince some backwards community to register with the FRA database."

Wufei took a seat near the other three teens as Harry questioned the nickname. "Duo here gives his friends nicknames. Heero is sometimes Hee-man, sometimes Hee-chan. He calls me either Wu-man or Wuffers, and I despise the second one. Our friend, Quatre, is Kat, Q-bean, or Goldie. Our other friend, Trowa, usually only has his name shortened to Tro. Duo also has the disrespectful habit of calling our boss, known as Lady Une, 'Une-baby."

"Don't worry, Harry," Duo joked. "I'll find a nice nickname for you, too!"

Harry snorted, while Wufei rolled his eyes and Heero scoffed.

Amos Diggory and Arabella Figg had a conversation separate from the boys. They quietly discussed the event of Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban, both stumped on how he managed such a feat. Somehow the topic wove around to Diggory's cat recently having a litter, and the crazy cat-lady aspect of Mrs. Figg came out.

At least I know who as ask about tending to the kittens now, Amos thought, bemused.

Soon enough, Cedric was led back to the waiting room by a smirking Dr. Jones. Cedric was blushing pretty fiercely from her explanation of safe sex and condoms. While the boy appreciated the simple, no-nonsense phrasing, the topic in general was what set off the blush. That, and she gave him a handful of condoms, which he stuffed into his pocket before the others could see.

Amos arched an eyebrow at the sight of his son's red cheeks. "Everything alright, Ced?"

"Yea-yeah, Dad," Cedric stuttered. "Doctor Jones was talking about, uh, reproductive health. Our regular clinic doesn't really, um, go into so much detail on that." Cedric felt better when his father's face pinked as he looked to a random corner.

Duo, having heard the conversation between father and son, snickered at their discomfort. Wufei shook his head sadly, Heero lightly smirked, and young Harry was confused by virtue of not having 'The Talk' yet. Mrs. Figg daintily covered her smile with a loosely curled fist.

Martha grinned at the group of Preventors. "That was quick for a familial match, Harry." She clapped her hands once. "Now, in honor of the first meeting hosted by this clinic, there's a light lunch available in the break room! Diggorys, you're welcome, too."

Harry blushed for the kind doctor's attention, especially that she remembered his name. Five teenagers and two adults followed Martha to the break room, which might be more accurately termed employee lounge. Place settings of disposable plates, cups, and utensils were set at every seat. The refrigerator was of the French door variety with an ice dispensor built in. The countertop was covered in a variety of picnic type food stuffs, while serving utensils rested on napkins next to each container.

Wufei turned to Martha. "Did you do all of this by yourself?"

"No," the doctor replied. "The nurses brought in most of it. Just me in the office today, but whatever is left over will be eaten the next time the staff work."

Everyone helped themselves in an orderly fashion. Martha declared that Harry and Heero had to go first, as the luncheon was celebrating their first meeting. At the long table, there was more than enough room for eight people.

AN: And that's Chapter Three! Harry and Heero are getting acquainted, Mrs. Figg gets to socialize with a wizard, and Cedric gets to see a side of Harry few at Hogwarts ever do.

Next chapter will feature those FRA letters taking effect on Fudge, Umbridge, and the Malfoys


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Chapter Four is here!

Disclaimer - I do not own the Gundam Wing or Harry Potter universes, and make no money from this work. The Favorites, Follows, and Reviews are payment enough.

CHAPTER FOUR

The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, patiently waited for her turn. She had gathered a handful of her Aurors and marched the lot of them to the closest FRA registration site. Madame Bones was surprised that some of her department had already registered, such as Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Still, she had to flat out order this group to register. Two were pureblood wizards that frowned on everything Muggle. One was so behind on her paperwork that she'd carried a stack with her. Another Auror was simply afraid of needles. The last of the current group was so sure he was close to a break in his current case.

The registration staff must have the patience of saints, Amelia mused. One of the pureblood, Dolohov, was turning red in the face at the seemingly regulation questions. 'Have you had a blood transfusion or a bone marrow transplant?' were very important in this process, as the technology found the familial identifiers were somehow enclosed in the samples. Truthfully, Madame Bones didn't know exactly how that worked, but she could see how transplants from another person would affect the sample results. Slowly but surely, she was beginning to understand Arthur Weasley's fascination with Muggle things.

One of the waiting Aurors suddenly stood, and the reason was soon apparent as Minister Cornelius Fudge was escorted through the automatic doors by two Preventors. Amelia also stood from her seat, to better observe the agents.

At first the witch thought them both women. The taller Preventor was mostly behind Fudge, so the wide shoulders and flat chest wasn't initially obvious. The shorter agent walked ahead of the minister, her lean physique still feminine.

"Minister Fudge," Amelia Bones greeted. "I wasn't aware you had an appointment to register for the FRA. I would have postponed the Aurors getting registered. But we're all here now!"

Cornelius couldn't make himself adopt a pleasant expression. "These Preventors are preventing me from getting to my work!"

"The summons Agent Heero Yui served you allowed plenty of time for you to register on your own time," the tall man behind Fudge had a surprisingly deep voice. He moved to guard the door, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. He partner approached the check-in counter and collected paperwork for the pudgy wizard.

The female agent passed the clipboard and ink pen to Fudge's hesitant grip. "Here you go! Let's have a seat, and I'll help you if you have any questions. I'd imagine you don't have much experience with medical forms." Showing a patience roughly on par with the nurses, the woman herded her charge to an empty chair.

Amelia joined the standing Preventor against the wall. "Salutations. My name is Amelia Bones. I'm the head of our Department of Magical Law Enforncement, or the DMLE for short."

The man turned pale blue eyes onto the witch. "Preventor agent Zechs Merquise. Agent Yui spoke highly of you in his report."

"Glad to know I've made a favorable impression. His dry wit diffused a tense moment." Amelia smirked at the memory.

Zechs snorted. "Yui is hardly known for his humor. His intelligence is as sharp as a scalpel, but I'd imagine his wit is as dry as burnt toast."

Madame Bones glanced at Fudge, who was frowning at the forms and pen. "Have you met the Minister's secretary?" At the man's shudder, the witch took as a yes and continued. "Mr. Yui may have mentioned a Muggle fable where a prince is turned into a frog and that apparently the spell is gender-specific."

Being raised in an aristocratic household, Zechs didn't laugh out loud, but the smirk was unmissable. "Appropriate, although I would not have expected such from him. He can be painfully blunt at times."

"You know him personally," Amelia concluded.

"Indeed," he agreed without elaborating. Comfortable silence engulfed the odd pair. And an odd pair they were. Madame Amelia Bones was of average height, fit for her age, and dressed in charcoal grey robes. Her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled back into a simple twist, and a monocle covered one sharp eye. Zechs, by contrast, was quite tall, and his Preventor uniform hinted at firm muscles. His long hair was a paler blond than that of Lucius Malfoy, and a thin layer of fringe coupled with his light blue eyes brought to mind a large cat peering through tall grass.

Both agent and witch surveyed the waiting room. Several Aurors stood, paced, or sat as they awaited their turn, their crimson robes bold in the neutral-toned room. Cornelius Fudge still struggled with the intake forms, sweat dotting his brow, and his plum robes clashing with his lime-green bowler hat and waistcoat. And last but not least, the unnamed female Preventor with short dark blue hair and eyes.

After apparently a few minutes of thought, Zechs spoke. "I am unsure if you or your government are aware, but there Magicals employed in Preventors, probably more than we agents realize. For example, my partner," he nodded to the blue-haired woman, "Lucrezia Noin is the granddaughter of a Squib that had been disowned by a pure blood family. She has displayed a handful of accidental magic instances. Also the summons Fudge received was spelled by one of our agents; whoever touches the summons will be added to our list of those to be registered. Some of Preventors' best agents are actually witches and wizards untrained in the magical arts."

Madame Bones nodded. "I would assume that Mr. Yui is one of these untrained wizards. There are wards that hide the ministry from non-Magicals, you see."

"Understandable, and yes, Heero Yui is untrained in magic. I suspect his magic manifested mostly as strengthening his body and accelerating his healing, considering his medical report." Zechs glanced at the witch beside him. "It is currently theorized that the magic of the untrained manifests in a way that would help that individual survive and possibly operates on a subconscious level - by instinct, in other words."

"An interesting theory, indeed," Amelia conceded. "The more I speak with you, the more I think our ministry and communities are too isolated from the rest of the world."

The Preventor smiled grimly. "Not all of the recent developments have been good. We have our own flaws and our own bigots and such. But I do advocate understanding those different from ourselves, and understanding comes from learning of it."

At last, Agent Noin rose from her seat next to the Minister and turned in the finally completed forms. She joined her partner and the witch at the wall. "That could have gone worse," she tried to assure herself. Zechs chuckled, and Noin smiled at him, "Careful, or else you'll be talking the toad through the paperwork." His expression fell into a grimace.

Preventors Malcomb and Lydia stood just outside the gates of Malfoy Manor. They had spoken with a House Elf not a moment before, and the creature said it would inform its masters of their presence. An albino peacock strutted on the other side of the bars.

Tillmint the House Elf popped into the sitting room and bowed to Narcissa Malfoy. "Mistress, the escorts are at the gates. They say the appointment is shortly, Mistress."

The witch set aside her stitching project. "I shall speak with them," she replied. Tillmint popped away, and Narcissa headed to the ornate wrought-iron gates. Once there, she coldly regarded the man and woman garbed in Preventors uniforms. "I am the lady of the house. May I help you?"

Agent Malcomb smiled in greeting despite the witch's cold tone. "Good day, Madame. A representative of Preventors spoke with your husband, a Lucius Malfoy. It was agreed that the Malfoy household would register in accordance to the Family Reconstruction Act, an international law that has gone into effect."

Madame Malfoy suspiciously eyed the pair. "Lucius has not mentioned any such appointment to me, sir."

The female agent shrugged, "Perhaps it slipped his mind, ma'am. The appointment still stands, however."

Malcomb queried, "Are you familiar with the Family Reconstruction Act?" At her blank face, he continued. "It is intended to reunite families separated by war. We use non-magical means of indentifying people, and a computer searches for familial matches. If, say, a cousin went missing and later registers, the database will be able to recognize that person-"

Agent Lydia smacked her partner's arm. "You're not explaining it well at all, Malcomb." She turned back to the skeptical woman. "Sorry about him. How the registration and database works is that the staff at the clinic will gather a small blood sample and discuss your known family. The sample will be processed though a machine that will identify specific markers. The results will be submitted to registration's database. From there, computers will compare your results to the results of everyone else who has registered. Of the computer finds a match or partial match, the files are sent to a specialized agent, and notices are sent to the affected persons."

Understanding shown in Narcissa's eyes. "I see. Just a moment, agents. I will collect my son for this registration." She turned towards her home but paused. "Would you like to come in? My House a Elf can provide tea."

"We'll be alright to wait here," Malcomb assured.

As luck would have it, shortly after Narcissa and Draco Malfoy arrived with their Preventor escorts, Agents Zechs and Noin returned with a short, toad-like witch in tow. Mrs. Malfoy sat prim and proper as she filled in the required forms. Draco flipped through a magazine in his seat next to his mother.

Lucrezia Noin generally considered herself a patient person. She had known Zechs for years in the military, she withstood Wufei's 'women should not be soldiers' spiel when they had first met, and she had acted as Relena's bodyguard and chief of security once upon a time. Her patience had even extended to helping the blundering Minister Fudge. But this woman - this witch with capital B - had Noin fingering the taser hidden under her jacket. Not only that, the effort of his restraint was showing through Zechs's poker face.

Like their previous trip to the clinic, Noin collected the paperwork from the desk and her partner took up wall space. Unlike last time, the female joined the former prince at the wall right away.

Delores Umbridge took a seat close to Madame Malfoy, much to the noblewoman's displeasure. Although Narcissa shared some of the ministry witch's blood purist views, the mother found many of Umbridge's idea too extreme or just plain stupid. Madame Malfoy honestly hated to hear the other witch's forced high, girly voice and horrid fashion sense. Yet for the sake of her husband's political ties, the former Black utilized all the behavioral lessons of her youth. That is, maintain a neutral expression and speak as little as possible.

As the toad-like witch grumbled and struggled with paperwork, the Preventors who had escorted her shared a vindictive smile. They had agreed at a glance to not aid her. It may be petty, but neither agent could stand her.

Dr. Martha Jones watched with a satisfied smile as Harry and Heero chatted during their second meeting. Again, the younger boy was dressed in oversized rags. While Harry's overall appearance had not improved, his green eyes shown brighter, obviously happy to visit with his halfbrother. The older brother's blue eyes seemed warmer while regarding Harry.

Martha wasn't the only one observing the second meeting. The boy with the long braided hair had returned, dressed in his Preventors uniform. Duo had been the one to collect Harry Potter from the Dursley house, and he was still silently fuming at the family's treatment of the underdeveloped boy (not to mention, they treated Duo with thinly veiled scorn). To see his best friend soften with the British child eased Duo's unvoiced concern.

It was during this visit that conversation mostly stayed on the topic of Harry's school. The students were divided into four Houses, the bespectacled boy explained. Each House had its own set of dormitories, colors, and mascots. Harry was in Gryffindor House, with the colors of red and gold and the lion mascot, while Cedric Diggory belonged in Hufflepuff, the yellow and black badgers. The school, which Harry let slip was called Hogwarts, was in an old castle with towers and torrents, with a lake and forest and greenhouses. The groundskeeper was an enormous man named Hagrid, and the caretaker was the grumpy Mr. Filch.

Martha giggled, "My mum told me about Mr. Filch. Obsessed with his cat, he is. And Mister Rubeus Hagrid, she said, such a gentle giant of a man."

The three males looked at the doctor with varying levels of surprise.

"Don't tell me you forgot I was here," she teased. "Seriously, my mother was in Ravenclaw."

Three pairs of eyes followed her hand as she reached to toy with the polished wood holding her hair into a messy bun. Polished wood, part of which looked like a handle. A wand, the boys realized.

Harry sent an awkward smile to the pretty doctor while Duo grinned. Heero let his shoulders slump in relief, realizing that they could speak freely of magic.

As they all were again in the clinic's break room, they shared a couple pizzas, one of pepperoni and the other supreme. Duo stood a fair distance from the pizza, and with a mischievous eye twinkle and a jerking hand motion, a slice of supreme pizza zoomed to his waiting hands. The former pilot of Deathscythe groaned in appreciation as the favors registered in his mouth.

Harry stared a moment, his mouth slack and fortunately empty. Dr. Jones clapped for the wandless, wordless spell. The Perfect Soldier shook his head at Duo's use of magic. "Obviously," Heero deadpanned," we have a bit more to talk about."

Green eyes turned to the Asian teen. "Are you a wizard too?"

A shrug was the reply. "I have not had formal magical training, but I do have some magical ability."

Duo snorted, "Some magical ability, he says. Cushioning charms, shield charms, somehow slowing his falls- all without magical training or a focus object."

"Compared to your accios, notice-me-nots, and stealth," Heero countered, to which the L02 native snickered.

Reality set in for Harry Potter. He didn't have to hide his magic from his new brother! Or his friends! One of the widest smiles of his life graced his face. Now that Harry knew he would not be breaking the Statitute of Secrecy, he regaled the others with funny stories from school.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The time had come for the visit to come to a close. Martha hugged each of the boys in farewell, having walked with them to the unmarked sedan. During the short ride back to Privet Drive, they made plans for an overnight visit in a few days.

Both Heero and Duo escorted Harry to the door of Number Four. The smallest teen went rigid as barking echoed from the house. Duo frowned, "There wasn't a dog here before."

Pilot 01 rapt his knuckles against the door's painted wood, and the barking grew louder and more insistent. The trio waited on the front step a moment before someone came to the door.

"Who is it?" Petunia Dursley called.

Duo rolled his eyes. "Preventor Maxwell, ma'am. We need to talk just a minute."

The thin woman opened the door and urgently ushered the boys inside and out of the eyes of the neighbors. She attempted a neutral expression but failed miserably.

Heero cleared his throat to gain Petunia's attention, as the woman had been half glaring at Harry. "Mrs. Dursley, I understand you are Harry's aunt and primary legal guardian?"

"That's right," Petunia confirmed, eyeing the blue-eyed Asian. "Took in the ungrateful brat out of the goodness of our hearts. We could have sent him to an orphanage, finding him on the front step."

Harry wanted to sink into the floor and disappear, a feeling that had begun at Ripper's barking. He had avoided talking about the Dursleys as much as possible to his new brother. And now it looked like Aunt Petunia was going to spout the lies she told all the neighbors.

Marge Dursley, sister to Vernon, lumbered into the hall. "Oh, there you are, Petunia dear." Ripper the bulldog growled from his position tucked under his owner's arm.

The thinner woman twitched hard before turning to her sister-in-law. "Nothing to worry about, Marge. Preventor Maxwell was bringing the boy back."

"What trouble has that riffraff caused now, to be involving Preventors?" Marge rumbled.

Duo interjected, "Actually, Harry came with me as part of the Family Reconstruction Act. Our database found a familial match on his father's side, so Harry here got to meet his half brother."

Marge eyed the teens suspiciously. "How about we move into the sitting room?"

"Where are my manners?" Petunia flustered, "Of course, this way."

Harry and the pilots could tell that she didn't want to invite them further into the house. The thin woman perched on an armchair, Marge settled into the recliner, and the three boys took the couch.

"So," Duo started the conversation. "I'm Duo Maxwell, and that," a thumb jerk, "is Heero Yui. We're Preventor agents. Yui is here in Britain on a special assignment, and the match was identified just in time for him to multitask."

Marge took a rather deep pull from her tumbler. "You boys seem awfully young to be law enforcement. Makes me wonder just what sort of special assignment you could handle."

Heero spoke up. "My mission is to convince a particular pocket of the UK's population to register in accordance to the FRA. While similar groups in other countries have made great headway in complying, the UK's problematic group is being stubborn."

"Must be the same lot Lily fell in with," Petunia shugged. "Standing against what's normal and proper, the lot of them!"

Duo snorted. "Didn't a couple Preventor agents have to collect your family for registration? Agents Noah and Nicole noted your opposition and resistance in their report."

Petunia's cheeks blotched red in indignation.

"Back to the topic," Heero commanded. "I have met with my half brother -"

Duo commented, "That still feels weird."

"-Harry, twice and would like to arrange an overnight visitation. As you are his primary guardian, details must be discussed with you."

"Fine," the thin woman snapped. "Boy, gather your things." Cold eyes turned to the Preventors as Harry scurried from the room. "Take him and now and keep him for as long as you like. Let his freakishness be your problem for a time."

Marge Dursley may not have liked Harry - having believed everything Vernon told her about the child - but sending him away with strangers seemed odd. Surely such a problem child would warrant some warning for those taking him?

Harry had fled at his aunt's command. He fought tears as her acidic words reached his ears. Who knew what his aunt would tell the two older teens? He blindly scampered up the stairs to the bedroom door with multiple locks on the outside. The boy snatched up one of Dudley's discarded school bags (with a broken strap and burst zipper) and stuffed some clothes inside.

While the younger boy was upstairs, Duo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Mrs. Dursley, can you explain why the clinic diagnosed Harry with long-term malnourishment, especially during the core developmental phase? Or why the physical checkup found years worth of layered scars on him? Or even the numerous improperly healed fractures, AKA broken bones?"

Petunia gaped at him, and Marge blinked in surprise. Even Ripper seemed stunned into silence.

"Can you explain," Heero added, "why both times I have seen him, Harry has worn hand-me-downs from an obviously obese child, yet Harry shows physical signs of long-term starvation? Why a child nearly thirteen years old is the size of a small eleven year old?"

"Tell ya what!" Duo donned a fake smile, intent on investigating further. "I'll help Harry get his stuff. Hee-man, ya wanna take Harry for the rest of the summer? We can put some meat on his bones before he goes back to school, if nothing else."

"Oh, yes," Petunia seethed as the long-haired teen exited the sitting room. "St. Brutus School for Incurably Criminal Boys."

Heero maintained his alert-yet-relaxed posture but tilted his head as a sign of conflicting data. "So we heard from the babysitter. However, we looked it up. Do you know what we found? Nothing; no such school exits. Not by that name or by that purpose. You, madam, are lying...and lying poorly at that. Duo's specialty is identifying those who have been abused." Heero pulled a sealed envelope from his jacket pocket. "Preventors have filed a motion with Family Services to have Harry James Potter removed from your custody, citing extreme malnourishment, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. You have been served." The envelope found its way to Petunia's bony knees as Heero stood and moved to leave the room. "We're still deciding whether or not to file criminal charges."

Marge absently stroked Ripper's short, corse coat. Her mind was reeling from the accusations leveled against her brother's family. Thinking back, she couldn't recall a time Harry wore something besides Dudley's cast offs. Still, the obese woman didn't want to admit to her brother being in the wrong.

AN: Whelp, that is Chapter Four. Petunia Dursley is officially on their crap list but not yet on their hit list. Next chapter will see The Cupboard of Incriminating Evidence and the trip to Heero's current living space.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed Chapter Four. This chapter starts where the last left off, still at Number Four Privet Drive. The G-boys have expressed their displeasure with Petunia in front of Marge, and Harry is throwing together a bag totals with him for an extended visit with Heero.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and Harry Potter belong to their respective owners, and no monetary gain is received from this work of fanfiction.

Heero's warning of possible legal action still hung heavy in the air. Duo and Harry soon appeared in the doorway.

"Aunt Petunia," Harry quietly called. "Um, they said I may spend the rest of summer break with them. So, erm, I probably need my school things. The trunk is still in the cupboard, right?"

"Vernon has the key," was the hissed reply. Petunia Dursley obviously did not enjoy having her tales unspun before witnesses.

Duo took to leaning against the wall in order to eavesdrop on the women. Harry and Heero strode to the kitchen, where Vernon and Dudley split a tray of biscuits (cookies). "Mr. Dursley," Heero extended a hand toward the walrus of a man. "I am Heero Yui, half-brother to your nephew. Your wife gave permission for Harry to come with me until his school resumes in September. However, he'll need his school things from the cupboard."

Vernon Dursley, Heero decided, was not a bright man. A humorous expression of curiosity and suspicion touched the fat man's face, made funnier by the bushy eyebrows and mustache. "Very well," Vernon hoisted himself to his feet, and the chair legs squealed against the floor. "At least you're polite. Unlike those wackos that got him last year."

Heero arched a nonchalant brow at the man's dark mutters and Harry's embarrassed blush. Dudley, true to form, pulled the tray of sweets closer to his seat and ignored the going-ons around him. The pilot and wizard followed Vernon's broad backside to the little door under the stairs. Despite his pudgy hands, Vernon deftly located the small key on his keyring and had the padlock open in a jiffy. The big man stepped aside, "We put away his school things to make sure he doesn't tear up anything." With that, Vernon joined his wife and sister in the sitting room.

Duo, being just down the hall, heard the large man's explanation of why the trunk was in the locked cupboard. "Never mind the kid's summer homework," he muttered as Vernon passed. The long-haired teen joined his companions at the little door under the stairs. Duo flipped the latch and opened the door with a slight creaking sound.

"I need to get Hedwig's cage," Harry excused himself.

Just in time, too, judging by the sudden tension in Duo's shoulders. The trunk sat on what looked to be a small cot that still had a couple faded blankets on it. The braided pilot angled the trunk to pull from the little cupboard when s eyes landed on something that simultaneously turned his blood to lava and his stomach to ice. A yellowed crayon sign was push-pinned to the wall next to the door. Hary's Roome would be visible if a small child were on the cot.

Heero watched as Duo jerked out of the cupboard under the stairs faster than if a snake were about to strike, and sped to the simple washroom nearby. The sound of running water reached him, as well as rattling toiletries if he strained his ears. He looked to see what had brought such a reaction from his friend. At first, nothing caught his eye, but when he bent to retrieve the trunk, the Hary's Roome sign came into view. Mentally going through the brush strokes of Hirigana, Heero pulled the black trunk fully from the tiny cupboard. He noted the flat pillow, dusty sheets, and rumpled blankets still on what had obviously served as a bed within the storage space.

Duo emerged from the washroom with his face dry but his fringe wet. His blue eyes gleamed violet with suppressed anger. Heero set the trunk to the side of the front door before meeting his friend's eyes. You saw it too? seemed to be conveyed in the long-haired boy's gaze, to which the Asian boy nodded.

Hurried footsteps on the stairs sent a small rain of dust onto the cot. Harry clutched a satchel under one arm while Hedwig's cage took up his other hand. Both pilots cleared their expressions to neutral at the young wizard's approach. The two older boys fell in behind the youngest.

Harry poked his head into the sitting room. "Right, er, we're off then. Bye." Withering glares from his aunt and uncle met him, while Marge at least gave a curt nod.

Duo, having the keys, opened the front door and dashed to open the boot (car trunk) of the dark sedan. Heero easily lifted the school trunk and carried it to where his friend stood by the car. They worked together to ease the black luggage into the boot.

Harry hustled after his half brother. A hoot from the fence drew his green gaze. "Hedwig! There you are, girl. I'm going with them," a nod toward the car. "Do you want to follow the car or ride inside your cage?" The snowy owl winged her way onto the car's roof. "In the car?" A regal nod. "All right then," Harry set the gleaming cage onto the roof and unlatched the wire door with one hand. He then opened the backseat door and put the satchel in the floorboard.

"Whoa, that's a pretty owl," Duo exclaimed.

Harry looked from Duo to the snowy owl already in her cage. "Yeah. Her name is Hedwig. She's my first ever birthday present. We've been together for almost two years now."

"Let's get her settled into the backseat," Heero gently moved the cage onto the seat. He paused a moment, the pulled the seatbelt across the bars to secure the bird. Dark blue eyes watched as his green-eyed brother buckled himself into the backseat beside his owl. The brothers shared a small smile before Heero joined Duo in the front, where the long-haired boy was in the driver's seat.

Ever the joker, Duo adopted a nasally voice, "Pssssht. Welcome. Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. Fasten your seat belts, kiddies! We're about to goooooooo!" He had started the car during the speech and put it into reverse at 'go'. His effort at humor paid off with quiet laughter from the boy behind him.

Despite the drama at Number Four Privet Drive, the car ride to London was rather uneventful. Heero manned the radio dial, finding a station with currently popular music as they passed through different coverage areas. Duo occasionally sang along or drummed the steering wheel. Harry had dozed off while watching the scenery pass by his window. Hedwig the owl had long ago tucked her head under her wing for sleep. Soon enough, they arrived at the apartment building Preventors had purchased.

The brick building was formerly owned by a near destitute older man. Mister Sebastian Waters had acted as landlord, repair man, rent collector, and maintenance for the better part of twenty years. The numerous renters had moved out in the last five years for various reasons - newer apartment, buying a house, to be closer to work. There were those who couldn't afford the newer, nicer apartment; those people stayed.

When Preventors bought the property, Mr. Waters and all his tenants were given the choice to stay or go. Anyone that left was given a small sum to aid in finding a new home, and all who stayed were given a month rent-free. The Preventor representative, in this case Hilde Schbeiker, noted that some of the tenants were struggling professionals. As such, she offered each a deal: rent discounts would be given to those who helped renovate the empty flats. Electricians, carpenters, drywall layers, painters, and some others took the deal. A working system was created easily enough. Hilde enlisted the aid of housewives to find inexpensive furnishings as the flats were finished one at a time. Having worked as a scavenger, Hilde often provided a simple meal to the workers. After all, a hungry crew was an unhappy crew, which meant less quality work.

The first few multi-bedroom flats were allotted to Preventor agents that had long term assignments and working out of hotels and motels. These flats were given only basic furnishings, with the bedrooms holding a set of bunkbeds and a dresser for each bed. Hilde opted to split a two-bedroom apartment with Agents Noah and Nicole, siblings assigned to the FRA registration.

The single bedroom flats were also provided basic furnishings, their bedrooms give a full-sized bed, a nightstand, and a chest of drawers. Hilde suggested to Mr. Waters putting out ads on the universities and coffee shops to draw in students. Within that week, a student moved in, quickly followed by a homely bachelor.

Heero directed Duo to a parking deck near the Preventors-owned building. The Perfect Soldier wasn't sure if Duo knew of Hilde's presence in the renovated complex. Well, Heero corrected himself, renovation-in-progress.

Pilot 02 woke the snoozing wizard as 01 pulled the bird cage out of the car. A minor distraction came in the form of another sedan pulling into a nearby space. Duo chuckled at the vinyl decal on the back window, a white peace sign. "Looks like Zecks is here," the long-haired teen announced.

Indeed, Zechs Merquise climbed from the car, with Lucretia Noin following suit. "Yui, Maxewll," the tall man greeted, smirking at the winged cross decal on their car.

"Didn't realize you two were here," Duo replied.

Noin sighed. "We've been escorting ministry workers to register in the FRA database. They waste so much time arguing about going."

"Ouch," the L2 native sympathized.

Zechs's pale blue gaze landed on Harry. "And who is this?"

The bespectacled boy stifled a yawn, not quite awake enough to feel awkward at the attention. Heero replied, "He is my recently located half brother, Harry."

When the group left the parking deck, Heero and Zechs each held an end of Harry's trunk, Noin carried Hedwig in her cage, and Duo led the groggy Harry into the apartment building. Mr. Waters met the group in the large dumb waiter-type elevator, and the old man worked the controls to take them to Heero's floor. The messy-haired pilot led the way to the smallest two-bedroom flat on this level.

Once all five (six if one counted the owl) of them had entered and the door firmly shut, Heero relayed a bit of information in his usual blunt manner. "Harry is magical," he announced without any preamble. He took hold of both sides of the trunk and set it just inside the bedroom with a window.

The boy in question fidgeted, suddenly awake and watching the tall man and short-haired woman in apprehension. The woman passes Hedwig's cage to the young wizard.

"Hi. I'm Lucretia Noin, just Noin is fine. Heero has been, um, succinct in his words about you."

The pale-haired man nodded. "Two definitive sentences, to be exact. I'm afraid you'll find Heero lacking in most social graces. By the way, I am Zechs Merquise, but I was born Milliardo Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom." Zechs drew his wand from under his jacket sleeve and muttered Mufflindo at the door. "What most of Europe doesn't realize, is that Sanc was predominately magical. The Sanc Kingdom had its own school of magic, rumors suggest it rivaled Beaubatons in quality education. Unfortunately, the country fell into ruins when my birth parents were assassinated, and my sister and I were smuggled away to be adopted by different families. Sanc's fall was before you were born, Harry Potter. But her people live on."

Duo and Noin stared at Zechs for a moment. Then, the corner of Duo's mouth twitched, "That was random. Informative, but random."

Noin shook her head. "It was all details a pureblood wizard should know. Or at least, someone from a Noble House."

Heero's dark blue eyes bore into the prince. "Zechs, I would appreciate lessons on what we missed as having non-magical upbringings."

"Certainly," came the easy reply. "I presume we will be heading to Gringotts tomorrow."

At three stumped stares, Harry offered, "Wizarding bank. It's in Diagon Alley. But why would we need to go to the bank?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "Let's sit down. I have a feeling this will take a while."

Harry went to put Hedwig in the darkened room that Heero had set his trunk and opened the cage door in case she should want out. When he returned, he found that the others had already found some surface to sit in the common room. Harry claimed a spot next to Heero. "So, why do we need to go to Gringotts?"

Zechs sat straight, posture perfect, with a ankle crossed over his knee. His explanation included Heero claiming his place as a Potter, changing of custody, and reviewing the Potters' properties and finances. The hidden prince assured the newly acquainted brothers that he had every intention to guide them through the process. Noin added that she would use makeup to hide Harry's distinctive scar, hoping to have their day run smoother.

As the group bid farewell for the evening, Zechs offered handshakes to the males while Noin pulled each in turn into a hug. Harry, understandably, was a little flustered by the hug, which earned a hair tussle from the smirking woman.

Duo flopped onto the couch, muttering, "Surprisingly comfy." Heero browsed through the kitchen for something to cook for dinner.

While those two were occupied, Harry decided to investigate the room he had been given. "Hedwig, I'm going to turn on the light," he warned before doing just that. His black school trunk sat at the foot of a wooden-framed twin-sized bed. A chest of drawers stood next to Hedwig's cage, which was currently on the floor. The window was curtained in dark khaki and the pane of glass would side up to open. The floor was covered in a faux hardwood laminate. The bed clothes included a khaki and navy blue plaid blanket and navy blue sheets while the two pillowcases matched the curtains. A dark wood suit stand offered a decent perch for Hedwig.

Harry moved the cage to on top of the chest of drawers and offered an arm to his beloved owl. With a quiet hoot, she hopped onto his arm. The wizard showed her their new room, letting her test the headboard and footboard for grip. She accepted the suit stand as a perch while her owner opened the window. Hedwig preened herself as Harry started unpacking the satchel; clothes went into the chest of drawers, and the owl's food and water bowls were carefully laid out.

Duo knocked on the open door. "Hey, kiddo. Settling in all right?"

"Yeah," the younger boy replied. He opened his trunk and gathered his school robes.

The braided teen glanced into one of the still-open drawers. "So, any of that actually fit?"

"Er, not really," a helpless shrug, "but that's all I've got. My school stuff fits, though."

Blue eyes closed in a grimace, apparently remembering what he'd seen the other boy wear so far. "You'd be better off borrowing from from me or Heero until we can take you clothes shopping. It'd still be roomy, but not nearly as bad as," a point towards the open drawer, "those."

Harry gave the brown-haired teen a shocked face. "You'd lend me clothes and take me to buy my own? I mean, we've barely met, really."

"Well, yeah. Can't have you running around in raggedy tents, can we?" A sardonic chuckle escaped. "Anyway, I was going to check out of my motel room and bring my stuff here. I figure I can help you guys before I receive my next mission objective."

"So you'd be staying here? With Heero and me?"

"In the building at least. The couch is pretty comfy, so I won't be in the way too much. Besides, I'll be able to keep you company while Heero is working...and I'd imagine he'll be working during most of the day."

The sound of rustling metal utensils reached Duo's attentive ears. The pilot gestured for Harry to follow as he turned to investigate.

Heero set out three place settings, leaving the food to be ladled in the kitchen. Between the small table and different pots, serving away from the table made more sense. There was, however, a bowl of mixed salad greens in the center of the table.

Harry followed his nose to what smelled like savory beef tips. A soup pot contained the meat in a thick broth, a smaller pot held mixed vegetables in a thinner broth, and a rice cooker sat open and ready. "Wow, Heero. This smells great," the nearly thirteen-year-old was clearly impressed.

"Here-man doesn't do anything halfway!" Duo laughed.

Over dinner, Duo explained his plan of the evening. He also shared his plotting of a shopping spree for new clothes for Harry. The idea of lending Harry an outfit for the following day was tossed in there somewhere. Heero merely nodded at each point, silently agreeing. Harry was amazed that Duo could talk so much while taking seconds (and thirds) and not talking with his mouth full.

In what felt like only a few minutes, dinner was done and the three guys were stuffed. Eyeing the leftovers, Heero messaged Hilde. Shortly after, the former junker knocked on the door and squealed when Duo answered. Hilde snatched her friend into a tight hug, and they excitedly jumped together. Heero rolled his eyes while Harry looked on with a bemused expression.

Happy chatter surrounded the long-haired boy and short-haired girl. Despite the rapid verbal exchange, they each conveyed their purpose in the building. Hilde showcased her skill in multitasking as she conversed with Duo and put the leftovers in resealable packages. The compact young woman gave Heero a hug in thanks for the food and surprise before Duo walked with her out of the apartment.

Heero glanced at his half brother. "Do you have summer homework?"

"Yeah, it's still in my trunk," Harry replied.

"Let's take a look and get some of it out of the way." Heero wouldn't quite admit it, but he was curious about magical textbooks. He hadn't had formal education until Operation Meteor landed him washed up on a beach.

AN: So! Chapter Five moves the story along. Duo tries to add a feeling of normalicy to Heero and Harry's interaction. Zechs and Noin offer their assistance in getting the Potter boys caught up with wizard nobility education. And of course, Marge is left to question her brother's family and their treatment of Harry.

Next chapter will see Duo's return with his shopping. Zechs and Noin will escort the group through Diagon Alley. And the Gringotts visit will likely take up most of the chapter.

I hope you join me for Chapter Six!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Chapter Six!

Disclaimer: I do own these fandoms, honest. And I don't make any financial gain from writing fanfiction.

When Duo returned some two hours later, he found the two messy-haired boys with books in hand. Harry had his Charms text open to one of the last chapters, likely reviewing. Heero sat cross-legged with a transfiguration book open in his lap, his blue eyes eagerly absorbing the information. Duo smirked and tossed a shopping bag at Harry. "Figured you could use something to sleep in, kiddo."

The bespectacled boy startled when the bag landed on his lap, knocking his charms book to the floor. Curiosity piqued at Duo's words, Harry pulled the items from the plastic bag. A three-pack of plain white t-shirts was revealed first. Next was a pair of drawstring, cotton pajama pants in red, gold, and black plaid. The third and last item was a five-pack of boxers in various patterns.

"Thank you," the wizard whispered, some disbelief mixed with awe shown in his green eyes.

Duo shrugged. "Not a problem, Harry. You're welcome. I guessed at your size; fingers crossed that everything fits okay."

Heero nodded to his friend, "Thank you, Duo."

That night Harry Potter slept soundly despite the new surroundings. The clothes Duo had brought were only one size too large, a much appreciated difference from Dudley's cast offs. He found that he liked the 'fresh out of the package' smell that clung to his current shirt. The young teen snuggled into the blanket, content and secure with Heero on the other side of the wall, Duo on the couch, and Hedwig on the suit stand next to the window.

The morning found Duo in the kitchen making breakfast. Zechs and Noin already sat in the living room, both in their Preventor uniforms. Heero sat at the table with his laptop, typing his weakly report to Une. Harry emerged from his room, holding his glasses in one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other. By the time Harry realized someone (who wasn't him) was cooking breakfast, Duo had loaded a couple plates and carried them to the table.

"Computer away, Heero," pilot 02 commanded. He set the two plates down and returned to the kitchen to arrange the other plates. Heero obediently saved his progress then shutdown the portable computer. Yui took his laptop to his room as Duo gave two plates to their guests, Zechs and Noin.

Harry looked around the open floor plan, still a little groggy. "Good morning," he said to the room at large. He took a seat at the table and smiled as Duo set a plate in front of him. Two pancakes, a bit of scrambled eggs, and three slices of bacon. "Looks good!"

The braided teen grinned. "That's just to get us started. There's more at the ready. We have a busy day ahead of us, after all!"

As promised, Lucrezia Noin had brought along her makeup kit. Why a woman that didn't normally wear makeup have an entire kit? In case of undercover missions, of course. So she had no trouble disguising Harry's scar, and even added enough makeup to make recognizing him a difficult task at first glance.

Upon entering the bank, Zechs took point and stood in line for a teller. As the witch in front of their group walked away, the small, rather grumpy-looking Goblin called, "Next!"

"Greeting to the Goblin Nation on behalf of the Sanc Kingdom," the prince spoke softly to the surprise of the Goblin. "We request a meeting with the Potter Accounts Manager, if at all possible. Young Mister Potter's financial aspect of his magical education is severely lacking, I fear."

"Certainly, Prince Milliardo of Sanc," the Goblin, whose name placard read 'Thimtwist', shouted for a messenger. "Crumsnort will lead to the Potter Accounts Manager's office."

Zechs nodded to the teller, and Harry said a quick 'thank you' to Thimstwist before the group followed the messenger towards the far side of the lobby. While the corridor to the mine carts was to one side of the far wall, another highly decorated doorway stood on the other side. Crumsnort led the group to the devoratated door and into a maze of halls. The floor angled downward in some corridors, upward in others, while some floors sections bowed up or dipped down in the middle. At last, they reached a tall, wide door that opened by sliding sideways into the wall. Three name plates were screwed onto the stone wall: Harkness, Leonheart-Liore, and Potter.

Crumsnort slid the polished wood door open just enough for him to fit through to announce their presence and intentions. The messenger slid the door fully open a moment later to admit the five humans.

"Manager Doolbeck," Messenger Crumsnort introduced, "Prince Milliardo Peacecraft of Sanc, Harry Potter, and company."

The comparatively large Goblin studied the humans while they took in his office. Bookcases and filing cabinets lined three walls, making the spacious office seem smaller. Dark grey carpet covered the stone floor. The manager's desk was nearly enormous compared to its owner, and was made of varnished wood. Behind the vast desk, the floor was bare and raised like a small stage (which helped Doolbeck be visible over the desk). Five full-sized upholstered chairs were spread around the room; two at distant corners of the room and three directly before the desk. A padded stool sat next to the door, and Crumsnort sat there. Duo and Noin took the corner chairs, leaving Zechs, Heero, and Harry to sit nearest the manager. Just as well, really.

"Salutations, Manager Doolbeck," greeted the light-haired man. "We come with several topics to discuss. First and foremost, the magical equivalent of a DNA test for Heero Yui. His status as half brother to Harry Potter has been proven by non-magical means, but we would like-"

Heero butted in, "Should the need arise that I must take complete guardianship of Harry, I want as few obstacles as possible."

Duo snorted in amusement, not at all surprised by the interruption. Noin couldn't quite temper her smirk. Zechs shook his head with an exasperated smile, "Ever the blunt one, Heero." Harry chuckled quietly.

Doolbeck arched an eyebrow before he reached into one of the many drawers of his desk, retrieving a large sheet of parchment and a glossy black quill. From a deeper drawer, the Goblin pulled a fairly small bottle of potion. "Getting on with the first task then," Doolbeck said. Press-stamps with runes instead of the usual notary and a rather sharp letter opener soon joined the potion and parchment. Taking the letter opener on his surprisingly nimble, long fingers, he easily opened a one-time-use alcohol packet and sanitized the letter opener's blade. "If there is something Muggles make that I like, it's these little wipes to sanitize things. Several services Gringotts offers requires a few drops of blood. This is one of those services, by the way."

Heero's dark blue eyes were trained on the pricking instrument. The former Gundam pilot accepted the letter opener as well as an unopened alcohol swab. Zechs took the sealed package from his former enemy and opened it with a gentle tear at the top. "I'd suggest the ring finger of your off hand," the prince advised.

Harry leaned forward to better see the happenings. Green eyes observed the disinfecting of the mentioned finger, then the subsequent jab with the letter opener. Doolbeck held the uncorked bottle of potion under the wound to catch the required three drops of blood. The potion changed from inky black to a swirl of black, blue, green, and red. Zechs muttered a small healing charm that left the fresh wound scabbed over.

The accounts manager busied himself with preparing the parchment. He whispered in Gobbledegook as he used the altered notary presses at certain spots, forming a triangle. At last the colorful potion was corked with a thin sponge and set upside down in the center of the stamp triangle. "While that completes itself," Doolbeck switched back to English, "what else do you require?"

Again Zechs took the lead. "We would like to review the Potter family holdings."

A sizable ledger was retrieved from a bookcase, as well as a thick portfolio. "This ledger is the overview of the accounts held with Gringotts. The portfolio contains stocks and properties."

The prince accepted the items and passed the ledger to Heero. He moved to Harry's side with the portfolio. Zechs pointed to each bit of information he reviewed aloud so that Harry would better understand. Meanwhile, Heero's brow creased as he noted odd withdrawals in the ledger. Duo passed the time by playing with his hair. Noin sat as still as a tranquil pond, accustomed to sitting through long meetings that weren't nearly as interesting.

A long period of quiet enveloped the room. Manager Doolbeck had retrieved the Potter family tree in preparation to compare Heero's heritage chart to the document. Beady black eyes watched as the ink spread across the parchment to form lines, names, and dates.

The Sanc prince produced a small notebook and ink pen from the pocket of his jacket. "Manager Doolbeck, Harry and Heero will likely need to visit the Potter properties. As such, may I copy the addresses for their convenience?"

The Goblin nodded. "Very well, for their perusal. Any visitors to the properties must be accompanied by a member of the Potter family."

"Thank you, Manager Doolbeck," Harry gave the Goblin a nervous smile. Zechs was soon busy writing addresses and a brief, short-hand descriptions. Meanwhile Heero was developing quite a frown as he reviewed the overview ledger, his mind storing points to discuss with the account manager.

At last the heritage parchment was complete. Doolbeck explained the markings and colors. Names in green were magical; names in blue were mundane; and those in red were Squibs. Dates and relation brackets were in black.

The name Heero Yui was in parentheses next to Hideki Urameshi in green, with the date 01/01/AC 180, or January 1, 1977. Branching from Heero's assumed name and birth names were those of James Charlus Potter (March 27, 1960 to October 31,1981) and Haruna Urameshi (August 25, 1959 to December 22, 1979). From James, lines led to Charlus Howard Potter and Dorea Potter née Black. Haruna connected to Kouga Urameshi and Kimino Urameshi née Iwasaki.

Doolbeck compared the two documents, the heritage parchment and the Potter family tree. Deciding that the Potter information was exactly the same, the manager uttered a spell in Gobbledegook. The result being that Heero's names appeared on the Potter family tree, with his birthdate and that day's date under them. Where James Charlus Potter connected to Lily Potter née Evans by a double line, a dashed line met Haruna Urameshi. Harry and Heero's names were linked to their respective parents by an equally thick line. The Goblin nodded then presented the documents to the Potter boys.

"Harry James Potter and Heero Hideki Urameshi Yui-Potter, you are now magically recognized as half brothers by Gringotts Bank and the Goblin Nation," the accounts manager announced in a booming voice. "Mister Yui-Potter, you are of magical majority at seventeen. By Wizarding standards, you are considered an adult and eligible to acquire custody of a minor. However, due to you being born out of wedlock, Mister Harry Potter is still set to inherit the Potter titles and such."

Heero nodded."I'm considered illegitimate, so Harry still inherits everything, understood. If and when I succeed in acquiring guardianship of Harry, would we have access to the Potter vaults and properties?"

Doolbeck studied the young man. "The vaults, aside from Mr. Potter's trust vault, will continue to be sealed until Mr. Potter comes of age. The properties are available to Mr. Potter so long as he is accompanied by an adult witch or wizard."

Zechs tilted his very blonde head. "Can you tell us Harry's current guardians?"

Beady black eyes glanced at the youngest human in the room. "Mundane guardianship is held by Petunia Dursley née Evans, and magical guardianship by Albus Dumbledore." A wispy arched eyebrow arched as the green-eyed boy jerked in surprise. "Just to note, the Headmaster often assumes such a role when a Muggle-born or Muggle-raised witch or wizard enters Hogwarts. However, he has held magical guardianship of Mr. Potter since the death of his parents, as their Will was sealed by motion of the Ministry of Magic."

Heero, Harry, Zechs, Duo, and Noin all frowned at the last bit of information. "Why," the prince lowly asked, "was the Will sealed? I assume the Ministry gave some reason."

The account manager sighed. "The Ministry did not, in fact, give a reason. Only the notice to seal the Will. The Potter Will wasn't the only Last Will and Testament sealed at that time, most without an explanation. We Goblins have our suspicions as to why, but no definitive evidence. Understand, many in the Ministry of Magic consider non-humans to be lesser to magical humans. Quite arrogant."

Heero steered the topic to the ledger he had Len looking through. "There are some entries I have questions about." At the Goblin's nod, the former pilot plowed on. "This reoccurring withdraw, for example."

While he elder brother talked accounting with Doolbeck, Harry was still reeling a bit. Somehow, the Ministry - or rather, someone in the Ministry - blocked his parents' Will from being read and enacted. Plus, he could visit any property that the blond man had written down, which was a few. Heero was magically confirmed to be his half brother but was considered illegitimate so couldn't control the Potter holdings.

The nearly thirteen-year-old tuned in to the current conversation. Turns out, the reoccuring withdrawals were still coming out of the main vault. The interest collected by that vault alone covered most of the withdrawal amount, the stash of wealth was so great. Above all, Harry was surprised by what the funds went to - financial aid for the poorer students at Hogwarts (the Weasley family instantly came to mind). Also property tax for the Potter properties was roughly the other half of the withdrawals.

The meeting finished for the day with Heero asking Doolbeck how to get custody of Harry. The Goblin searched the drawers of his desk and produced first a thick stack of parchment onto the desktop, then a stack of blank printing paper. Account Manager Doolbeck inquired of the group had any other business in the bank, to which Zechs answered yes, to change currency. With a nod, the Goblin suggested that they go ahead and attend to that while he copied the parchment.

Crumsnort led the five humans through the maze of hallways back to the lobby. The messenger directed Zechs, acting as leader, to the appropriate forms and gestured to the currency conversion counter. Harry asked to make a withdrawal from his trust vault, and Heero and Duo accompanied the boy to the track.

A cart was being overseen by a familiar Goblin. Harry approached the dour-looking creature. "Hello, Griphook. We'd like to go to vault number 687 to make a withdrawal, please."

The Goblin, Griphook, eyed Harry with a vague wariness. "Do you have your vault key?"

"Yes, right here," the young wizard produced the small gold key from a pocket.

"Very well," drawled the Goblin. "You may board the cart."

Heero and Duo looked incredulously at the cart, not sure they really wanted to trust the rickety-looking apparatus. Having rode in the cart before, Harry clambered aboard without hesitation. The pilots exchanged a glance, each silently daring the other to go first, before they grudgingly followed the youngest teen's example.

The Goblin pulled a lever, releasing the breaks, and the cart eased forward. And then the tracks dipped sharply, shooting the cart underground in an insane type of rollercoaster. When the cart rolled to a stop, Harry glanced at the older boys. Heero's hair was even wilder than usual, his blue eyes wide, with one hand gripping the side of the cart, and the other hand clutched the wooden board that made up the bench seat. Duo clung to his side of the cart, his braid tucked under one arm, and his eyes wide while a grin slowly spread across his face.

Griphook collected the lantern and Harry's vault key, opening Vault 687. Honestly, finding out that his parents left him more than the trust vault was a huge relief to Harry - he had had no idea that there were other vaults he would inherit. With the knowledge that the vault he had known about was only intended to get him through school, the Boy-Who-Lived was reassured that he didn't have to be so frugal as he had been previously.

Duo recovered from the wild ride fairly quickly. He noted that Harry was climbing out of the cart, as a quick glance around shown the intricate metal doors set into the rough-hewn walls. Duo did a double take as the gleaming piles of gold, silver, and bronze caught his eye. Torch light revealed Harry bent over, loading a cloth sack with coins.

Heero, true to his training, was aware of his surroundings despite the shock of the rollercoaster track to the vault. He saw his half brother enter the vault and turned his attention to listening for anything suspicious.

Harry hurried back to the cart, coin purse in hand. He gave his companions a kind smile. "I was thinking we could look about the Alley, if we had time."

Heero nodded his understanding, and Duo grinned. "Even if we don't have time today," the Wing pilot assured, "we can come back."

Griphook rolled his eyes at the humans but manipulated the controls to take them back to the lobby.

Soon enough, the trio rejoined the older Preventors. The group patiently waited for the papers Doolbeck promised. Close to the hall leading to the offices, Zechs reviewed the property information he had copied. Noin listened as Duo excitedly recounted the trip down to the vault. The Perfect Soldier adopted a discreet bodyguard position next to Harry. The younger Potter people-watched the bank's customers.

A peculiar hat caught Harry's attention. An elderly witch wore a wide-brimmed witch's hat with what looked like a taxidermic vulture stuck on it. The vulture-hat woman had a firm grip on a plump boy whom Harry recognized as his classmate. Neville Longbottom looked around the bank with the same curiosity Harry felt every time he came here.

"Heero," the boy wizard called softly. Blue eyes met green before the smaller boy continued. "May I chat with my friend? I recognized him with his gran."

Heero swept his gaze over the lobby again. "Alright. Lead the way." His words were rewarded with a smile. He followed his half brother through the crowd, weaving between teller lines. Heero Yui-Potter couldn't help the split second expression of incredulousness as he caught sight of a taxidermic vulture on an old woman's hat.

"Hello, Neville," Harry said softly, hoping to not startle the other boy.

Despite the quiet greeting, Neville Longbottom jumped in surprise. "He-hello, Harry. I didn't expect you there."

The green-eyed boy grinned at this Housemate. "Sorry, Nev. Didn't mean to starve you. How's your summer?"

As the two Hogwarts students chatted, Mrs. Longbottom of the vulture hat surveyed Harry and Heero with a critical eye. She noted how the older boy seemed to stand protectively close to the Potter heir. Despite the older boy's Asian appearance, he somehow looked similar to Harry, which set the witch to pondering. "Neville, do introduce us to Mr. Potter's companion."

Neville sent an apologetic smile to her. "Sorry, Gran. Well, um, I'm Nevill Longbottom, and this is my grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. It's nice to meet you?"

Harry blushed. "Er, right. Manners. Hello, ma'am. I'm Harry Potter, and this is Heero Yui-Potter. The Family Reconstruction Act helped us meet. He's my half brother, you see. Just confirmed with the bank's Goblins."

Heero extended a hand. "Salutations." First Lady Longbottom, then Neville shook his hand. The pilot had consciously checked his strength as not to cause discomfort.

Zechs arrived then, Duo and Noin in tow. The pail-haired man passes a thick Manila envelope to the older Potter, "Doolbeck completed the files." He received a nod as a reply.

The elderly witch blinked at the three newcomers. Their Preventors uniforms stood out starkly against the backdrop of robe-clad passerby.

"Hey, Harry," the boy with the long braid slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Ya ready to get outta here?" The obviously American accent surprised many nearby witches and wizards.

"Okay, Duo," the bespectacled boy agreed. "Bye, Neville. It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Longbottom." Heero gave a curt nod before the group ambled off.

"Um, Gran?" Nevill asked. "What's the Family Reconstruction Act?"

"I haven't heard of it before," Mrs. Longbottom replied. "Must be a Muggle thing, judging by their clothes."

AN: There we go! Chapter Six features the group's business within Gringotts Bank. I hope you all have enjoyed this installment.

Next stop, Olivander's Wand Shop!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Sorry for the wait, everyone! This chapter features a visit to Olivander's Wands and Potter Manor. Hopefully you won't be bored with the lack of real excitement. I am sure some of you will be pleased to know that I went back and edited previous chapters for typos.

Disclaimer: I do not own either franchise of the Harry Potter series or Gundam Wing, and I make no financial gain from writing this story.

Chapter Seven!

After leaving Gringotts Bank, the group split up again. Harry went with Zechs and Noin to Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Heero and Duo entered Olivander's Wands.

"Sure is musty in here," Duo commented. Heero shrugged.

An old man emerged from the shadows. "My apologies, young man, for the smell. The nature of wandmaking can bring about a musty smell. I like to think of it as wand musk."

The braided pilot gave a sheepish grin and a nervous laugh. Heero, mission-oriented as ever, stepped forward. "We would like to purchase wands."

Olivander's silvery eyes crinkled with his smile. "First wands or replacements, gentlemen?"

"First," the pilots answered simultaneously.

The wandmaker saw to Heero first. The tape measure held itself to measure all sorts of odd things, like the circumference of his head and the space between his eyes. Olivander's went to his trusty shelves to find wands to try. Silvery eyes widened as he came back to the counter - his measuring tape was checking the customer's inseam. "Enough of that," the old man snapped, and the tape fell to the floor. Olivander cleared his throat and laid the boxes of wands onto the counter. "Now, pick up a wand and give it a wave."

Heero approached the counter with a determined glint in his eye. Instead of randomly lifting a wand, the Gundam pilot held his right hand roughly two inches above the furthest left wand and slowly moved to the next in line, the wand third from the left was pushed a little away from the others before Heero continued down the row.

Olivander felt a surge of excitement. The young man before him was apparently checking the resonance of the wands without touching them. Most curious indeed, and a rare talent to be sure. The wand that had been moved, the shopkeeper noted, was of a stiffer mahogany and unicorn hair. Judging by the wand, the customer was an unyielding virgin. Interesting. The next wand to be moved was an aspen with dragon heartstring. Great determination and strong convictions, the wandmaker mused.

Duo propped himself against a spindly stool and observed his friend's method. The braided teen had seen Heero do similar before. Even blindfolded, the Perfect Soldier could determine which gun would jam or misfire without laying a hand on the weapon. Same with selecting ammunition - incredibly helpful when gathering weaponry for a mission.

When Heero approached the end of the gathered wands, Duo stepped up to the leftmost wand and held his right hand over the first in the line. He closed his eyes to better his concentration, trying to mimic Heero's technique. The wand - a stick of wood with something inside - under his hand seemed to repel the limb. He continued more slowly than his companion, but one after another rejected the long-haired teen.

The old man swallowed a cry of surprise. In all his years of selling wands, he'd seen only one customer check the resonance. And here two young men were doing it in his shop at the same time! Olivander's silvery eyes gleamed merrily. The short-haired teen observed his companion's progress through the displayed wands. Where Heero had moved wands that were agreeable to him, Duo left all the wands in their places.

Duo frowned as his blue eyes opened, having been rejected by the displayed magical sticks. "So, uh, those don't agree with me. I think."

Heero nodded. "They disagreed with me as well, some more strongly than others."

Olivander spoke up. "Mister Yui-Potter, Mister Maxwell. Wands are made from trees of magical properties and have cores from magical creatures. Generally the wood hints at personality traits while the core indicates disposition. Every individual creature is different, so no two wands are exactly alike. In other words, gentlemen, fret not! Plenty of wands to try!"

The teens began replacing the lids onto the long, narrow boxes. The store owner hurried back to his shelves, armed with some idea what may work for the predominantly Asian boy. By the time Olivander returned to the counter, the incompatible wands were neatly stacked in their boxes to the side.

Duo gulped at the stack of boxes set down by the store keeper. "Say, Hee-man. Ya think Harry will be done in the robe shop before we find wands?"

"Affirmative," the other pilot replied.

Harry Potter stood beside Zechs, staring into the window of Mister Olivander's wand shop. It had been two hours since Heero and Duo split from the rest of the group. Madame Malkin's had already finished Harry's new robes, aided by magic as she was. The former Prince of the Sanc Kingdom had insisted that the green-eyed boy be fitted for casual robes, new school robes, and even a set of dress robes for some reason.

Lucrezia Noin paced the narrow side alley between buildings. She knew wands chose their owners and that it was only a matter of time before the two pilots found theirs. She simply wasn't expecting it to take so long.

Another half hour passed before the two teens emerged from the shop. Heero wore a wand holster on his left forearm, complete with wand. Duo was buckling his holster as he walked, his wand tucked into his braid (which was draped over his shoulder) for the moment. Both seemed to have an air of accomplishment about them.

"How did it go?" Harry was quick to ask. "There seemed like it went a lot less destructively than when I got my wand."

"Tedious but necessary," Heero replied,

Duo finished the last buckle on his holster and sent a grin at the green-eyed boy. "That took forever, it felt like. The more wands we went through, the more excited the old man got. Hey, guess what my wand is made of!"

Zechs chuckled. "Probably something that liked sugar cubes, would be my guess."

Duo pouted. "I dunno. Do thestrals like sugar cubes? Whatever thestrals are."

The prince's face turned somber. "The thestral is a magical creature that vaguely resembles a horse. Only those who have witnessed death - and understood it - can see them." He paused to shrug. "They are known to eat carrion, but I have no idea if they like sugar."

Noin stifled a laugh. "Well, aren't you a wealth of information?" she teased her long-time friend. Her dark eyes turned to the energetic teen, "What kind of wood, Duo?"

"Hawthorn," the braided pilot answered. "I forgot what that's supposed to represent, though."

Heero met his half brother's inquisitive gaze. "Japanese maple with a Griffon tail hair."

Harry grinned behind his glasses. "Holly and phoenix feather."

Harry Potter and his entourage arrived at Potter Manor mid-afternoon. They were greeted by a rather ancient House Elf named Alfred. Alfred appeared in simple black robes with the Potter crest over the heart.

"At last," the House Elf rasped, clearly moved by emotion, "the rightful Potter heir has come home to the manor." Alfred swept into a low bow.

Zechs nudged Heero and Harry toward the servile Elf. "Er, hello. I'm Harry Potter. James and Lily were my parents," the green-eyed boy awkwardly returned the bow.

Heero offered a proper Japanese bow. "Heero Yui-Potter, or Hideki Urameshi-Potter as my birth name."

The Elf tilted his head in askance. "Alfred looks forward to hearing the backgrounds of Young Masters Harry and Heero." His pale grey eyes swept over the other three humans. "Young Masters and guests, please do come inside. Tis almost tea time, and the other House Elves will be very excited to serve guests."

With that, the five humans followed Alfred to a parlor. A slight crack sounded as the Elf disaporated, presumably to spread word of visitors. The prince noted his companions' various expressions of confusion; he explained the symbiotic relationship between magical families and House Elves. Zechs went on about how some magical families didn't treat their Elves very well, to which Harry remembered Dobby (formerly of the Malfoys), and the repercussions should an Elf be freed from service.

A pop echoed in the parlor as Alfred and two other House Elves appeared with a thorough tea service. "Lady and sirs," spoke Alfred, "we serve the Potter family and maintain this property. Bruce and Barbara are also loyal Elves." The two new Elves bowed low at the introduction.

Duo quirked a smirk. "I take it the last Potters here were fond of DC comic's Batman." Noin face-palmed, a little late to make the connection. Zechs chuckled while Heero kept a blank face and Harry seemed slightly confused.

The trio of House Elves shared a grin with one another. Bruce spoke up, "Master Charlus enjoyed the comics, yes."

After tea, the humans toured Potter Manor. Harry couldn't help the awed look he cast around, considering his upbringing with the Dursleys. Heero kept a firm grip on Duo's braid as an impromptu leash. Noin and Zechs simply took in the well-maintained house. Of course, things turned slightly tense as they reached the private bedrooms.

Alfred opened one door of polished mahogany and requested that the group avoid disturbing anything in honor of the room's previous occupants -Charlus and Dorea Potter. Duo promptly shoved both hands deep into his pants pockets before he entered the room, well aware of his old habits. Heero observed the room with mild curiosity while Harry nearly trembled with the need to know, to have some connection to family he'd never met. Noin and Zechs opted to stay in the hall.

Like the door, the furniture was made of polished mahogany. Dainty lace runners covered the tops of the dresser, chest of drawers, and nightstand. Photographs in a variety of frames proudly occupied the lace-covered surfaces as well as tastefully hung on the walls. The bedspread appeared to be a handmade quilt with seemingly random bits of fabric pieced together in no discernible pattern. Two small bouquets of flowers lain on the bedspread, the petals beginning to brown. A cushioned bench stood at the foot of the bed.

While Duo was strangely (or not, considering his past) drawn to the wilting flowers, Harry and Heero took in the photographs. Green eyes observed a family portrait of a smiling older couple and a wild-haired First Year in Gryffindor robes, the boy proudly brandishing a wand. Another photo depicted the family on a picnic in a scenic meadow, and the boy seemed younger. A third photo shown the couple with their son and another boy, the newcomer giving a mischievous smirk. These three Wizarding portraits moved in their frames upon the wall.

Meanwhile, Heero's Persian blue eyes surveyed the smaller frames sitting atop the furniture. These proved to be candid shots of the messy-haired boy and his group of friends. The pilot noted the one that was obviously his and Harry's father seemed a confident ringleader. A handsome boy with grey eyes and black hair was easily the second-in-command. The chubby, rodent-like boy was obviously a clingy follower, and something about him struck Heero as suspicious. The last of the quartet was a scarred boy that seemed quietly amused most of the time, if not a little exasperated by their antics.

Alfred the House Elf eased closer to Harry. "Young Master, Alfred can tell you of your father and grandparents, if you'd like."

He wizard nodded his assent, his throat constricted by emotion. Harry would admit to feeling a little overwhelmed in that moment. 'If this is a dream,' he thought, 'I'd rather not wake.' He startled at a human hand squeezing his shoulder; a glance revealed Duo's concerned expression. "Maybe a little later, Alfred," the braided pilot suggested.

"Shall we move on then?" the House Elf suggested. At the gentle prompt, the trio of humans trailed back into the hallway. The next door opened was made of a rich cherry wood. Again, Zechs and Noin opted to remain in the hall. "Master James's childhood bedroom," Alfred announced.

Like his parents' room, James's personal domain had furniture the match the door. The patchwork quilt was comprised of triangular Quidditch banners, with the four Hogwarts banners in the center. Instead of lace runners on the nightstand, dresser, and chest of drawers, gold velvet runners accented the naturally red wood in a very Gryffindor way. Photo frames and knickknacks littered every available surface. An old school trunk sat before the footboard of the bed, a few cushions providing a comfortable sitting space.

This time all three teens observed the photos and knickknacks that littered the flat surfaces. Most of the photos featured the same four boys in various stages of adolescence; a couple depicted the messy-haired teen with a stunning red headed girl. Harry easily identified the girl as his mother, Lily. The resemblance was apparent most in the eyes, and Harry seemed to have his mother's softer jaw.

The knickknacks included a miniature broom the size of a toothpick, a carved wooded stag, a black dog plush, a toy mouse, and a ceramic wolf mid-howl. There was a cauldron tucked away in a corner, while old textbooks lined the bookcase. A long flat box was mostly tucked under the bed, a gold handle facing outward.

The trio left James's room as they had found it, no matter how tempted any of them were to lift objects to inspect them further. Alfred led them to the next room along the hall.

The door was birch with a thick varnish to make the wood darker. Again, the furniture matched the door, even down to the varnish. The sleigh bed was adorned with a patchwork quilt, the fabric showing a multitude of cars and motorcycles. Above the bed, a poster of a bikini-clad girl was magically tacked to the ceiling. Repurposed beach towels were crafted into runners to line the nightstand, dresser, and chest of drawers. Photo frames and knickknacks also lined the flat surface. The same for boys in different moments were the main feature. One picture showed what appeared to be brothers (the elder among the quartet) at odds with one another if their body language was anything to go by.

Photos aside, seemingly random items cluttered the available space. A wind-up mouse, a carved black dog in a playful pose, a ceramic stag grazing, an a wolf painted onto a scrap of leather, as well as a few pieces of costume jewelry and a smattering of chocolate frog cards. A miniature motorcycle stood on its own tiny kickstand.

Alfred informed them that this room had been used by Sirius Black, the figurative white sheep of the Black family. He had been granted sanctuary with the Potters while he was a teen as he had been constantly at odds with his family. With a put upon sigh, the elderly House Elf explained how the Wizarding World believed that Sirius had betrayed James, Lily, and baby Harry to Voldemort. Alfred and the other Potter Elves, however, did not believe it. The young Black had never shown anything but disgust toward the Dark Wizard, unlike his estranged family.

Harry blurted, "Where is he now?"

The House Elf shook his head. "He had been imprisoned in Azkaban - without a trial, I suspect - but he somehow managed to escape this summer. Myself and the others do not believe him to be a threat to you, Master Harry, but I would still advise caution. Azkaban is guarded by Dementors - some of the most horrific magical creatures known. And Sirius has spent nearly twelve years in that atrocious place."

Harry's green eyes were wide. Heero's expression was guarded, apparently having slipped into Perfect Soldier mode. Duo was unusually serious as he listened. Zechs and Noin remained silent in the hall,.

Alfred sighed. "Another word of caution, Masters. Master James and his friends became animagi - able to shapeshift into animals - to aid their werewolf friend. You likely noticed the stag, shaggy dog, wolf, and rat tokens in Master James's and Sirius's rooms; their pack, so to speak."

"Sirius Black may approach us as an animal, then," Heero concluded.

"Indeed," the small being agreed. From there the tour took the five humans to the library, another parlor, a formal dining room, and a ballroom. They even ventured to the House Elves' living space to answer Harry's curiosity. The kitchens and the laundry were briefly visited. The group glanced over the vegetable garden just before sundown.

Bruce and Barbara served a light dinner in a cozy dining room closer to the late Potters' chambers. Both beamed with pride as the humans complimented the simple fair of soup and sandwiches.

The group of humans soon departed, although Heero and Harry promised to visit again before the beginning of school term. They traveled via the unorthodox Knight Bus back to the Leaky Cauldron then on foot to where they had parked their two cars. At last the five returned to the Preventors apartments. Zechs and Noin followed the teens into Heero's flat.

While the elder four discussed plans for the next few days, Harry prepared for bed. It had, after all, been a rather lengthy and eventful day. He dressed in the same pajamas as the previous night, glad that the shirt had not yet lost its 'new' smell. The young wizard stepped into the living room to bid everyone a goodnight. He planned to write his friends before bed as a way to wind down, yet he paused as he took note of the notebook and package of pens sitting on his trunk lid. On the inside of the notebook, the words "You're welcome - Hilde" could be read.

He quickly got comfortable on the bed and settled to write a couple quick notes to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

The following morning found Harry Potter up and cooking breakfast at seven A.M. Duo had slept on the couch again, a light-weight fleece blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Heero soon sat at the table with his laptop open and booting up.

"Heero," the younger teen said, "could you explain some of the stuff about the ledger to me? Most of it went over my head, and I sort of wasn't paying attention to that discussion."

The pilot nodded. "Zechs was going over the property portfolio with you at the time, I think. There had been a few reoccurring charges that I had questions about. Doolbeck explained that part of it was property tax on the Potter family's various properties. Another was a scholarship or financial aid for Hogwarts students. The Goblin said that Charlus and Dorea Potter had set it up before their son was born. The amount was increased by James Potter to accommodate the rising costs of supplies and tuition. Doolbeck had gone on to say that the amount had to be claimed by the Headmaster accompanied by a Head of House, and that's after presenting the figures calculating the total cost."

"So they - the Headmaster and a Head of House - do they go to Doolbeck to withdraw the money?"

"It's transferred by Goblins into the vault specifically for the financial aid fund. Some ten other noble families donate to the fund vault as well." Heero had opened a fresh document while talking. He began typing an abbreviated version of events as reference for his upcoming report. "The withdrawal is a set amount. I intend to speak in the Headmaster about what the funds are actually used for."

Duo woke to the tantalizing smell of eggs, bacon, and toast. The trio of boys discussed plans for the day. Duo mentioned further clothes shopping for Harry. Heero was determined to investigate another of the Potter properties. Harry would have been content to work on his summer homework.

Together they decided to get to a couple hours shopping, then drop off the bags at the apartment, have a light lunch of sandwiches, a couple hours of study, and visiting another property before dinner.

AN: Here is Chapter Seven! I hope I cleared up a couple concerns some of you posed, such as details about the withdrawals. They boys will wait to visit Godric's Hollow, just so you know. Next chapter we will peaking in on a few other Harry Potter characters.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here we go with Chapter Eight of Unexpected Family. I hope you have enjoyed reading so far.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Harry Potter. This is merely fanfiction, and no financial gain is made by writing this story.**

Heero, Duo, and Harry had followed their plan for the day. Shopping was a humorous affair with the long-haired teen acting as a counterpoint to Heero's stoic nature. Several pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of shorts, some khaki pants, and a variety of colored shirts were approved by both former pilots. Then socks, underwear, and hygiene products were acquired. Duo had cajoled Harry into trying on some clothes just for laughs, such as a neon green teeshirt with a printed skateboard graphic (both Harry and Heero thought it too bright and flashy).

After shopping, the trio returned to the flat for an early lunch. Simple sandwiches and hot tea were consumed before the boys turned to Harry's school books. Duo picked up the first year potions book while Heero pursued a herbology text. Harry, meanwhile, reread the last couple chapters in his Transfiguration book.

Soon enough they prepared to head towards the next property on the list: Potter Clubhouse. Zechs had notated next to the property name "portkey, apparition, Floo". With that in mind, the three teens loaded into the sedan and were on their way to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the barman was as pleasantly helpful as ever, leading the trio to the Floo-connected fireplace. All three took a moment to dust themselves of cold ash after each experienced an inelegant landing.

The cabin's fireplace mantle had its own pot of Floo powder, as well as a few framed photos of the Potters plus Sirius Black and two other young men that the teens did not recognize. Near the large fireplace, a comfortable-looking couch and chairs faced the mantle, end tables between the other furniture. Further into the room, another set of couch and chairs faced a rather large coffee table. A hall led off from the main room, presumably to the sleeping quarters. The kitchen and dining area were a humble affair, with antique stove range and open shelving.

Once the smell of ash left the teenagers, the scent of cedar registered instead. Duo glanced up and whistled at the cedar beams that made up the ceiling, which rose some six feet above his head. Of course, that drew the attention of the half-brothers as well. The trio meandered throughout the cabin, always within earshot of each other by unspoken rule. They found canned goods in the shelving to be near their exoneration dates, various dry beans sealed in glass jars, and quite a few jars of pickles. Also, the second couch set's coffee table had built-in storage, already filled with blankets and pillows.

Soon enough, the boys were moving along the hallway. The first door was to a basic half-bath; the toilet and sink were of simple white ceramic. The second door connected to a coat closet that still had a couple winter coat s and a pair of snow boots. The next door led to a tiled sauna with bamboo benches. Wide stairs stood behind the next told, one set going up and another down.

The boys went down. Lights turned themselves on as the teens continued. Yet another door met them at the foot of the stairs. An expansive recreation room greeted them. Or as one might say, a man-cave.

Two billiard tables, a dartboard, and even a pinball machine stood in the open. One corner of the room appeared to be a miniature bar complete with stools. In fact, the walls were lined with a continuous countertop at about elbow height with mismatched stools spread throughout.

Harry and Duo shared a grin as Heero moved to investigate the minibar. A stack of cork coasters, a low liquor cabinet, and a variety of different styled glasses were located. A chest, presumably for ice, sat next to the liquor cabinet. Shards from broken glasses still littered a plastic waste basket.

Two more doors led off from the RecRoom. One connected to a wine cellar, the shelves mostly full of sealed bottles. The other door blocked a stone passage that opened into a holding cell of sorts.

The walls were stone, the floor was stone, and the ceiling was stone. Despite the unforgiving nature of stone, deep gauges littered the grey floor and walls. Tattered blankets occupied a corner. A cast-iron grate was set in the middle of the floor. Oddly enough, scratching post as wide as a punching bag stood opposite the blankets. At the side furthest from their entry, a wrought-iron gate blocked a seemingly natural tunnel.

"Er," Harry nervously began, "Alfred did say that my dad had a werewolf friend."

"Makes sense," Heero replied.

Duo shuddered. "Can we get outta here now? It's starting to creep me out."

They returned to the wide stairway to ascent to the ground look, then continued onward to the next

Even. Opening the door at the top of the stairs, the trio stepped into a parlor. A couple couches and a few chairs were spread around the cozy room. Four doors were set into the recesses of the walls. Heero, Harry, and Duo found four bedrooms, each with an animal theme.

The master bedroom was decorated with all things deer, minus pelts and taxidermied specimen. The drawer pull were bits of antler. A woven tapestry depicted a stag, a doe, a d a fawn hung on the wall. Above the headboard, a wreath of interlocked antlers hung on the wall. The footboard sported a magnificent carving of two stags struggling for dominance. Every visible cloth furnishings continued the deer theme, from curtains to pillowcases.

The next room was decked out with squirrels and acorns. Drawer pulls, the ends of the curtain rod, the both sides of the door knobs,and even the tops of the four poster bed were all acorn-shaped. A piece of wall art was of carved squirrels going up and down a square of woven sticks and twigs. Again, everything with fabric boasted the room's chosen animal.

The other two rooms were similar in their own animal of choice, wolves and bears respectively. Unlike the fireplace mantle, the bedrooms lacked personal touches. Even the attached bathrooms held nothing of from their previous occupants. The closets were empty of garments, as were the dressers.

With nothing else holding their interest, the boys returned to the ground floor to explore outside the mansion of a cabin. Heero found one door to outside near the kitchen, while Duo found another on the opposite side of the great room. Harry followed Heero onto a wrap-around porch. Wooden rocking chairs were spaced along the side of the building, as well as driftwood end tables close to the rockers.

Beyond the porch, trees were sparcely spread out, their boughs wider than Heero's shoulders. Sunlight filtered through the foliage to speckle the ground. A forest sat a short distance away; roughly hewn logs served as seating. Logs and twigs were already piled in the pit, ready to burn.

The trio meandered around the side of the cabin. Worn footpaths created trails branching off from around the cabin. One path led to a seemingly basic shed a short distance away, a little further than the fire pit. Another path encircled a lovely gazebo. A third path wove between trees, going deeper into the forest.

Harry went to the gazebo and sat on the built-in bench along the interior. Duo and Heero, meanwhile, investigated the shed.

As the green-eyed wizard regarded the rolled mesh above the open walls of the gazebo, the agents easily removed the unlatched lock from the shed's double doors. Within the wooden walls, they found basic tools neatly organized. Hammers, hatchets, crowbars, saws, and even a petrol-fueled weed eater. Also, along the back wall, a scratched and beaten door was padlocked shut. Not that a padlock could stop either teens. Duo pulled his lockpick tools from his braid and made quick work of the hindrance. They eased down the stone stairs after they found and switched on their flashlights. Soon the descending stairway curved back toward the cabin. Heero retreated back towards the door in case Harry shouted while Duo crept onward. Moments later, the braided teen returned with a smirk and reported that the underground tunnel connected to the dungeon in the basement. Harry met them at the shed's double doors, and the trio followed the third trail.

The footpath was a curved thing, bending around and between trees, avoiding unpleasant underbrush. They passes a tire swing strung up with a fraying rope and a picnic table on the opposite side. The trio continued through the trees until the footpath widened before the trees opened to reveal a pristine creek and a wooden dock.

Heero motioned for the other two boys to stay on the shore while he examined the dock. Duo and Harry took to walking along the creek. The long-haired teen casually gathered a handful of pebbles, then flicked the small stones either into the woods on one side or the creek on the other. To Harry, the pebble-flicking seemed a means to relieve boredom. He was mistaken, as Duo was testing for traps.

The Japanese teen checked the dock for structural integrity. He tested each support post with his full weight. He stomped on each plank, marking any week spots with, oddly enough, hot pink lipstick. The bench was thoroughly examined for rust and whatnot, but it managed to avoid the lipstick.

The trio of teens met at the foot of the dock. Duo spied the bright pink marks on the aged wood and snorted. Harry followed the other boy's gaze and snickered.

"So, Hee-man," Duo chuckled, "where's you get the lipstick?"

"Relena left it at my apartment at headquarters." An unconcerned shrug proceeded, "I had intended to return it, but I'll buy her a new one. I doubt she would want this one back." Heero held up the jagged tube of the lipstick, causing the other two boys to laugh outright.

Upon returning to the flat, Hedwig swooped to land on Harry's shoulder and promptly nibbled his ear in greeting. Duo snickered lightly then headed for the kitchen to start dinner. Heero reclined on the couch to observe the younger boy and bird.

The bespectacled wizard settled into a chair with the owl still on his shoulder. Hedwig hopped down to the boy's lap and settled herself as if in a nest. Harry gently stroked his familiar's feathers, and she butted her head against his chest at any pause.

In seemingly no time at all, Duo announced dinner ready. Harry carried Hedwig to his room, giving her some owl treats and getting her fresh water. Heero layed out the place settings at the small dining table. The Boy Who Lived returned to the communal space and found the braided teen setting bowls of stew at each place while the other cut a long roll of bread into thick slices.

Duo and Harry maintained light conversation during dinner. Heero listened attentatively as they trades humorous stories. The youngest of the trio regaled them with the telling of the Mirror of Erised. Duo described a particular prank involving crazy glue and Howard of the Sweepers group. Harry followed up with Lockheart and the Cornish Pixies incident. The long-haired teen countered with s story of attacking an OZ base and suddenly hearing 'Constant Vigilence!' shouted over the OZ radio frequency, followed by unexplained explosions across the base.

Dinner concluded, dishes were washed, and leftovers were stowed away before Harry returned to his room. The young wizard retrieved his potion text to review before starting the written assignment. Even though he greatly disliked the Potions Master, Harry was determined to improve the quality of his summer homework. Unlike the previous year, he had access to his supplies earlier on. Also, unlike the previous summer, Harry's location was away from the Dursleys and was supportive of time applied to this schoolwork. He could admit that as much as he enjoyed visiting the Weasley family, the Burrow was a bit too active to concentrate on studies.

The next day found Heero and Duo taking care of Preventor business. That left Harry to either hang around the flat or help Hilde's renovation crew. Harry chose to help where he could. He proved a worthwhile helper, able to follow directions and observe with seemingly boundless curiosity. After all, he didn't want to rely on magic for everything, especially before he finished Hogwarts.

As the Boy Who Lived spent more time with his halfbrother, Harry found himself wondering if the magical world as he knew it was all that great. The nearly thirteen-year-old had both positive and negative experiences in his first and second years, and he truly had no idea what to expect during the third...aside from Professor Snape hating him for some reason. Besides, Heero's and Duo's reactions to some of his stories clued him that certain instances were more problematic than Harry had considered. Especially that the trials to reach the Sorceror's stone were thwarted by three first year students. And the highly incompetent Gilderoy Lockheart. And why no one thought to question Moaning Myrtle about her death previously, as in when she died, to find out clues.

So yes, Harry Potter was considering the wisdom in staying in the Wizarding World, more so the British magical community. After all, Zechs was a wizard, Heero and Duo were untrained wizards, and the Preventors had magical people working for them. Truly, tradition and the lack of regular education were the only things holding back the U.K.'s magical school system. A muggle-born or muggle-raised child's nonmagical schooling ended at age eleven, when Hogwarts sent letters.

Another thing that had Harry's sudden attention, as Heero had pointed out after hearing the tale of the owl bombardment, was that all the letters were addressed with the cupboard under the stairs. If anyone at Hogwarts knew Harry was made to sleep in a tiny cupboard instead of an actual bedroom, why in Merlin's name didn't it occur to them that the boy was in a bad home? And how could the ministry detect magic used by a House Elf but not realize it wasn't Harry?

Spending time with the former Gundam pilots was truly an eye-opening experience. Harry tried to consider all this during lunch break. He had retreated to Heero's flat for a sandwich, a glass of juice, and an apple. Perhaps, sending letters of inquiry to other magical schools would be wise, Harry pondered. Maybe only Hogwarts left out nonmagical subjects. He made a note to ask Zechs at their next meeting.

In seemingly no time at all, Harry cleaned up after himself and returned to the renovation crew. He helped by holding certain tools steady for accurate markings; fetching hammers, nails, screwdrivers, and ladders; carried wood planks and other supplies light enough for him to manage. He found helping the crew felt much more rewarding than attending the countless chores of Number Four Privet Drive. Actually receiving praise and thanks might have had something to do with it, not to mention that the people were much more pleasant than his aunt's family.

The end of the workday caught Harry by surprise. Hilde herself came to collect him from the flat in progress, and workers commented on the boy's performance to Hilde as they departed. By the time the last worker left, the wizard practically glowed with the all the positive words. The young woman heartily laughed as she took him the beaming smile.

They walked to Heero's flat, the boy chattering about all he learned while helping. The pair found the flat unoccupied, as even Hedwig had apparently gone out to fly. Harry asked where Zechs and Noin's quarters were, as he had some questions for the man. With a shrug, Hilde led the boy through the halls and down a flight of stairs, her hand on his shoulder to ensure he kept by her side. They arrived just as the Preventor agents were unlocking their door, and friendly greetings were exchanged. The group settled in the living room, getting comfortable in plush chairs. Harry dove right into his questions for Zechs, if the Wizarding schools regularly ignored non-magical subjects. The Sanc prince answered as best he could, citing that he had not had the usual schooling. The blond suggested sending inquiries to the schools for a more accurate view.

Noin entertained the visitors with tails of a wizard she had escorted to be registered in the FRA. Apparently Mr. Arthur Weasley was incredibly curious about the non-magical world, enough so that the clinic staff had asked Noin to sit in to field his numerous questions. Harry grinned, green eyes practically dancing in mirth, and mentioned being asked the purpose of the rubber ducky the first time he'd met Mr. Weasley. Noin laughed, saying that he had asked her as well.

Zechs had remained in the waiting area with Mr. Weasly's family. At least the family that still lived at home with their parents. The twins had suckered the prince into trying one of their joke products, which had resulted in an immediate need for a waste bin and quite the scolding from Mrs. Molly Weasley. The youngest child, a girl called Ginny, had been kind enough to hold back his lengthy hair as he was violently ill. After the vomiting reduced to dry heaves, the twins ashamedly admitted that they had yet to figure out how to administer the counter, as it was made into an edible form. Ginny was allowed to braid the blonde hair as Zechs recovered with the counter taffy under his tongue. The oldest of the Weasley children had been taken to an exam room shortly after the father had, while the youngest of the boys tried to keep out of pinching distance of his mother.

Harry's smile was so bright, he nearly beamed. The young wizard regaled them with stories of shenanigans at the Burrow, the Weasley's home. Hilde laughed hard enough have a stitch in her side and need to wipe away a few tears by the end. Zechs had a rare open smile, glad to see the boy so happy. Noin had buried her face in a pillow to smother her laughter.

All good things must come to an end, and Hilde escorted Harry back to Heero's flat.

"Did you notice," the boy asked as they approached the correct door, "that Zechs's hair still has braids?"

Duo opened the door to investigate the uproar of laughter that came from Hilde Schbeiker. Harry succinctly explained, "A twelve-year-old braided Zechs's hair after her brothers pranked him."

The following day found Harry Potter tagging along with Preventor agents Heero Yui-Potter and Duo Maxwell. The trio entered the Ministry of Magic through the visitors's entrance via the red telephone booth. They quickly checked their wands at the desk and hurried to the lift.

The reason for their visit to the Ministry was to go over the records of Azkaban prisoners. Duo had stumbled across information on Sirius Black and was eager to find out more. Heero went along with it, as the newspapers had said that Black had killed non-magical people as well as betray the Potters. The agents brought Harry along as an educational experience.

An experience was one way to put it. When the boys were allowed access to the records, they found files haphazardly shoved into towering filing cabinets. Worse yet, the cases weren't sorted in any recognizable system. Worst still, pages were scattered, as if someone had dropped an armload of files without bothering to reorganize them. The older the reports, the more desperate the mess. Harry, Duo, and Heero struggled for two hours, trying to organize the mess by date as they went.

At last Duo lost any semblance of patience, resorting to a wandless Accio Files on Sirius Black. Sheets of parchment sprung from deep within a more distant cabinet, displacing even more pages in the process; yet only five parchment pages fluttered to Duo's outstretched hand. A quick pursuant revealed that three sheets were Aurors's reports on capturing Black and the other two were related to investigating his escape. No court transcripts pertaining to a trial. No log of evidence. No sign that the man had even received a trial at all. Just to be sure, Duo repeated the wandless command, only for the same five pages to flutter back into his hand.

Heero quickly adopted his Perfect Soldier expression, as Duo had dubbed it, and pronounced that they would ask Madame Bones for clarification. The three young men were soon enclosed in a lift and on their way to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They didn't have the lift to themselves, so they refrained from talking for the moment. Heero led the way to Madame Bones's office, as he had been there before.

A craggily man halted the trio before they could reach their target. With a wooden leg, a chunk missing from his nose, and scars aplenty, the man had long since seen better days. His dark brown eye scanned them suspiciously while the electric blue eye in an artificial socket zoomed seemingly at random.

Duo arched his eyebrows at the imposing man. "We had a couple questions for Madame Bones, regarding Sirius Black," he offered as an explanation before attempting to maneuver around.

The craggily man harrumphed at them as he blocked the boys again. "What do you need to know about Black? He was sent to Azkaban twelve years ago and somehow escaped this summer."

"There were no records of him receiving a trial before his incarceration," Heero bluntly threw out. "Madame Bones gave us permission to search the records."

Harry nodded and held out the five pages that they brought with them from the records room. "These were all we could find on Black. We were wondering if other pages were borrowed by those on Black's escape case."

The offered pages were testily snatched from the youngest boy's grasp, and the older man's brown eye pursued the documents. A frown tugged his crooked mouth further downward. He turned to face the crowd of desks. "Oi! Any of you lot got records for Sirius Black at your desks?!"

More than a few Aurors jumped, or at least twitched, at the unexpected shout. A return shout came as, "Watcher, Moody! We're working here!" A few chuckles came from around the woman with bubble gum-pink hair, who had given the reply.

As it so happened, only two Aurors had anything related to Black, and those were reports of his escape from prison. With that, the three visitors frowned. Moody, the heavily scarred man frowned right along with them, which wasn't a pretty sight. The man limped to Madame Bones's door and knocked briskly in a certain pattern. Amelia called for them to enter, and her employee opened the door for the teenagers.

Heero entered first, then Harry, and Duo brought up the rear. Moody positioned himself against the jam of the closed door. The former Gundam pilots explained the lack of documentation in their search for information on Black. Madame Bones was appropriately concerned, steepled fingers supporting her chin.

 **AN: Sorry for the long wait, everyone! I hope this chapter isn't too much of a let down after so long without update. I am honored that so many people have Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed for this story! e-Hugs!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN : Greetings, readers! As I likely should have mentioned before, thank you to everyone who has Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed! Also, I would like to apologize for the long wait. Various reasons, but essentially stuff happened and I wasn't in the headspace for writing. Again, I apologize for the delay.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter world nor that of Gundam Wing. No financial gain was made in the writing of this fanfiction.**

 **And now! Onward to Chapter NINE!**

Quatre Reberba Winner casually read the first book of an adventure series that supposedly featured Harry Potter. The young man knew the book to be fiction, thanks to an email from Heero Yui. Within the email, Heero had proclaimed the Family Recontruction Act's database had identified the Potter boy as Heero's halfbrother, and the magical resources confirmed the results with a simple test. Heero being Heero, there was also a blatant request to dig incriminating information on Harry's non-magical family, the Dursleys, due to their poor treatment of the boy. Quatre had grudgingly passed the task to one of his many sisters, Rackelle, who specialized in civil law.

The CEO of Winner Enterprises was quite a busy young man. On this particular day, Commander Une of Preventers had asked him to meet with the British Minister of Magic. She decided to figuratively use honey (Quatre) to coax the Minister since the vinegar (Heero) didn't seem to work. The blond's wealth would allude to a bride, which would not be explicitly mentioned and certainly not fulfilled, where Heero's presence had been effectively a cinder block to the face.

And so, here he sat, reading one of the most fantastical adventure books he had ever picked up. Quatre pointedly ignored the disgustingly pink-robed witch at the secretary desk. Madame Umbridge had been sickenly sweet when she spoke to him. Of course, the former pilot was dressed to impress in tastefully expensive robes, open-front to showcase the quality suit underneath. Between the clothes and his personal business card, the reputedly unpleasant witch had been very accommodating. Quatre was glad he brought the book to ward off attempts at conversation.

At last the Minister of Magic stepped from his office and gestured for Quatre to enter. The CEO deftly placed his gold-plated bookmark before easing to his feet. His movements were calculated as he tucked the book into an inner-robe pocket. The more time he took, the stronger the implication that the younger man's time was more important than that of the older man.

Quatre ambled to the office door, passing Cornelius Fudge at the threshold. The minister attempted pleasantries as he wrung his hands absently. His visitor meandered about the office, obviously taking in the decor, while idly responding.

True to reports, the minister was a nervous, pudgy man with a slight quiver to his voice. Quatre considered taking pity on the man and letting his haughty, upperclass act slip. Indeed, the blond's usual kind and considerate personality was hidden behind his act of a spoiled snob. _Duo would be rolling on the floor_ , he mused. But no, the act would be maintained for interacting with Fudge.

Perusal of decor completed, Quatre settled into the visitor chair before the large desk, gaze calculating as Fudge almost hurriedly assumed his own seat. A sly smile curled the teen's lips. "Let's talk business, shall we?"

The game was on.

Madame Bones escorted the teenage trio from her office. Alastor Moody trailed the boys to the lifts, his blue eye spinning in its socket as usual while the brown eye remained trained on the visitors. Something about the two older boys seemed familiar to the scarred man.

At the lifts, Duo turned to their shadow, a eyebrow raised in question. "Keeping up _Constant Vigilance_ , eh?"

Alastor threw his head back to laugh in a rather disturbing way. "Which mobile suit Gundam did you pilot, boy?"

"Deathscythe," Duo replied. "But OZ called it 02."

"Wing Gundam, 01," supplied Heero.

Harry peered curiously at the older teens. Between living with the Dursleys and the Muggle-news blackout at Hogwarts, the Boy-Who-Lived had no idea what they were talking about. Like normal, however, he listened to piece together what he could so that questions could be answered later. It was a strategy that had served him well over the years. Harry had used this skill while in Madame Bones's office as well.

The conversation with the Head of the DMLE had been enlightening to the wizard-in-training. Harry had listened intently as the Preventors and witch discussed their law practices and what documentation was supposed to be kept. As the case of Sirius Black was supposed to be open to the public, there should have been much more paperwork available than what the boys found. Any document stored in that chamber may be summoned and a duplicate of the page would appear before the ministry worker. The Banished parchment would return to the recycle area, where the ink would be magically erased. Of course, anyone not employed by the ministry must ask for assistance. Amelia had been a regular Auror at the time of Black's arrest, and she told the boys what she remembered from that time. In the end, the witch promised to investigate the details of Black's trial.

Back to the present, Harry noted that Moody's smile was a little frightening as he talked about the mobile suit war that Herro and Duo were apparently veterans of. The soon-to-be third year didn't know what a mobile suit was, other than some sort of weapon by the sounds of it. He only vaguely knew of the Alliance and OZ from Vernon's spiels back on Privet Drive.

At long last, the lift returned, and the teenage trio boarded. Moody retraced his steps back to Madame Bones's office. Meanwhile, Nymphadora Tonks slipped back to her desk, well aware that her mentor knew of her eavesdropping.

A prematurely aged man stared as three teens left the Ministry's visitor exit. Keen eyes followed the youngest with a sort of agonized loneliness. Sandy brown hair, shot through with grey, swept across his scarred face thanks to the wind. Thin lips pursed under a small mustache as he noted the comfortable way the three boys interacted.

The boy with the long braid threw an arm around the smallest. The other older boy walked closest to the street, keeping the black-haired boy between then two of brown hair. A simple yet decidedly protective gesture, the man noted.

Never before had Remus Lupin felt so constrained by Dumbledore's order of no contact. The man was well aware of his affliction, but that only affected him certain times of the month, or rather a certain phase of the lunar cycle. Yet the Headmaster wanted Harry raised without any contact to the magical world, for some reason that the scarred man could only guess. To Remus, it seemed a mute point - when all of the U.K.'s magical population knew the boy's physical description, the child would obviously be bombarded when he did appear in time for Hogwarts. And, from what bits of information he could gather, the boy had indeed been bombarded.

The three teens rounded a corner, the short-haired brunet slightly faster to see ahead. _At least, Harry has people that care for his well-being_ , Remus consoled himself. The man clearly remembered Lily speaking of her sister and animosity the Muggle woman had for the magical. More jealously turned hatred, he supposed. Which made little Harry's placement with Petunia and her family all the stranger, as surely Dumbledore was aware of such himself?

Alas, one Remus Lupin really didn't have time to linger much more. His part-time job at a mundane book store required his attention. There would be plenty of shelving of new arrivals waiting for him, as well as re-shelving as needed. Perhaps a section could use a reorganize, and there was always the usual cleaning. After the bookstore would come a shift at a humble cafe where he operated the register mostly. Not the most interesting of work, but it paid his bills.

He went the opposite direction on the corner as the teenage trio, his heart at least a few shades lighter after seeing Harry. Time would tell if they crossed paths again, he was sure.

At Flourish and Blotts, Potions Master Severus Snape pursued the available potions texts. His keen eyes swiftly dismissed the books he recognized. Yet a peculiar book caught his attention. Bright yellow cover, comic-styled font, and paperback of all things. The title was almost off putting, but the black-clad man picked it up to skim anyway. He found the contents to be the most ridiculously simplified description of potion basics, but despite the lack of flourish, the information was correct. With a strangely amused sneer, he placed an order for a dozen copies to be delivered at his residence. Surely some dunderhead could improve after being lent _Potion-Making for Dummies_.

Speaking of dunderheads, Neville Longbottom and his grandmother had just entered the bookstore. While Augusta Longbottom commanded respect even from him, the boy was truly abysmal in potions class. Snape, in Slytherin fashion, placed a copy of the yellow book next to the register and succinctly advised the cashier to mention it to the Longbottoms. The potions master made his escape before the two could notice him.

Severus Snape's next stop was to check on the cauldron selection at Potage's Cauldron Shop. If there was anything the professor had learned over the years, it was that having a few dozen spare cauldrons would be wise. Students had been known to somehow _dissolve_ their cauldrons with potion errors. Besides, he still brewed for the Hospital Wing and his own stores, plus a little on the side to sell. Extra cauldrons, indeed, which he had shipped directly to Hogwarts.

Slug and Jiggers Apothecary was next on his list. Here he purchased what he could not harvest on his own or from the Herbology greenhouses. Granted, he had devised more effective methods of storing the ingredients, keeping them fresher or making them more potent. He would often visit throughout the year, this apothecary and others, to find the bits and pieces that would otherwise be out of season. After the petrifaction issue of the last school year, Severus was determined to have preserved Mandrake on hand.

As he made his rounds and selected the supplies, Severus Snape would have been blind to miss the wanted posters for Sirius Black. The animated pictures were only plastered against nearly every wall in the Alley. Some even made their way down into Knockturn. Truth be told, he rather fancied the idea of crossing paths with the escapee, eager to strike against his childhood tormentor...well, one of several.

But an active mind such as his, of course Snape wondered what had prompted Black to escape _now_ rather than before or later. Surely if he could have fled, he'd have done it sooner? Spare himself the torment of the Dementors, gone into hiding, and so forth. So what had changed to spur the man to run now?

Alas, around and around the questions go, with no clear answer in sight. Best to finish his errands then.

In Little Whinging, Surrey, a rather fat boy of approximately thirteen years old was being chased by a large black dog. The dog, despite near starvation and exhaustion, was quickly gaining ground on the tubby boy. It might have had something to do with the hotdog clutched in his hand. The chase didn't last much longer as the boy tripped, scraping both knees, and dropping the processed meat item.

The dog literally ran over the boy to collect his edible prize. Hotdog captured between his teeth, the shaggy dog wagged his tail as he trotted off to enjoy his catch. Once far enough away from prying eyes and magical wards, the dog twirled in a dizzying display before standing as a gaunt man. Striped prison wear hung loose on his emaciated frame, a cold chain hung from one wrist. Hair black and unkept, he pushed it back from his face with a dirty hand.

Walking a few more paces, the man came to a make-shift den of castoff blankets. Old and worn, but still better than the barren cell of Azkaban. The man settled in his pile of blankets and slowly bit into the hotdog. He wanted to gobble it down, but he didn't want to make himself sick, either. Regurgitated food was wasted food, unless he shifted back into his dog form. Solitary hotdog eaten, he further slumped into the blankets. His eyes grew heavy and limbs slack as he fell into a doze.

Truly restful sleep eluded him, thanks to the nightmares that would not leave him even after escaping the prison. Naturally he rested where he could, when he could. When cold and hunger did not keep him uncomfortably awake. Besides, he was a wanted man. Escaped from Wizarding prison, shown on the Muggle news casts; nevermind the dog catchers.

When he awoke, the man resumed his dog form and stuck to the shadows as he padded to Privet Drive. He knew Lily's sister lived around here somewhere, but he couldn't remember which house. Not that it would help much, the houses looked the same. Even trying to track by smell didn't help, as he wasn't familiar with the woman's scent. Ahh, but there was the scent of the fat boy he'd run down and stolen food from (second time in a week). He followed the smell up to Number Four, where he could hear the boy bawling to his mummy about the big, mean dog that attacked him.

At the door of Number Four, the dog caught a scent that just barely tingled his memory. It brought to mind a little cottage in Godric's Hollow. But the scent was faint, old. The one associated with the foggy memory had not been in this house for roughly a week. Tail drooping, the dog ambled down the sidewalk back towards his den.

It was time to move on.

Sally Po scrutinized the data before her. Another of the oddity files had pinged, indicating a match. This time Chang Wufei seemed to have unknown relatives. The doctor would scrub through the provided information for a more complete picture, but it seemed that a branch of the Chang family of the Long clan survived on Earth.

She wasn't sure how Wufei would take the news. He had been devastated when his home colony was destroyed along with everyone on it, of course. But emotional surprises brought out some extreme reactions from the young man; for this reason, Sally resolved to tell him in person herself. Granted, that may take awhile as Gundam Shenlong's pilot was out on a mission. The paperwork indicated that the Earth-bound Chang family were well-established and unlikely to disappear anytime soon, so she figured there was some wriggle room.

Before moving onto her next task, the doctor sent a quick message to one Chang Wufei. _I'd like to discuss a FRA match when you have time. No rush, but I think you'll like the news._

Another ping from the oddity files drew her attention. Sally compared the match, then the attached documents. Her shoulders sagged at finding the relation was already known and noted by both parties. She linked the files together in case another popped up. Setting the groundwork for a comprehensive family tree was such tedious work.

For Harry Potter, several days passes where he assisted Hilde's renovation crew. The men and women were more than happy to have an extra set of hands of someone so eager to learn. Harry enjoyed helping and learning from them, running for tools or more nails and such. One of the carpenters taught him how to use several different saws, how to piece together the wood and where best to nail them. A painter explained the differences between base coat and color coat, as well as what paint types work best where. The electricians had been very thorough in going over safety rules with the boy - lightning bolt scar or no, it wouldn't do to let the boy get electrocuted. Hilde provided lunch, as was custom, and Harry pitched in where he could.

While Harry spent the days with the work crew, Heero and Duo continued their work as Preventors. They had different assignments. Heero kept to the magical community for FRA purposes. Duo took to nonmagical; although his initial target had turned out to be wanted criminal, so a chase through the city ensued.

Other matters begged their attention as well. Checking in with Alfred at the main Potter Estate and further investigating the Potter accounts were two primary concerns. Heero also went to check on the Potter Clubhouse, to see if anything had been disturbed since their visit.

The pair of pilots approached the Potter cottage in Godric's Hollow without the younger teen. They, of course, found the bespelled monument in the town square. The plaque on the fence to the cottage was liberally covered in well-wishing graffiti. Beyond the fence, the once-home remained in a state of disrepair. Part of the roof was blown outwards, debris still strewn about the yard. Surprising enough, the gate opened for them, and they proceeded to snoop around the house.

Duo and Heero found the interior to be trashed. Not that homeless people had camped or that the property looted, but that the house had been left as is after the attack nearly twelve years ago. With a huge hole blown out of the roof and a chunk of exterior wall, what hadn't been damaged by fighting had suffered the weather. The Preventors eased around the ground floor, ever careful of their step. Initial sweep complete, they crept up the surprisingly intact stairs to the upper level.

The door to the nursery hung open wide, allowing an unimpeded view of where Harry once slept. A plain white crib with a mobile of Quidditch players stood in the center of the room, matching baby furniture against the walls decorated with happy, cartoon-like animals. Low shelving held board books, the kind meant for small children, with a rocking chair nearby. Stuffed animals and other toys occupied a corner in a neat pile. It must have been a charming room, once upon a time.

The boys backed out to explore the rest of the upper level. They found the parents' bedroom to be tidy, if a bit dusty. The room obviously had not been disturbed in the passing years, as there were no marks in the thick dust. That quickly changed as the two teens walked the space. Handkerchiefs were produced to wipe photo frames, revealing happy family photos. Dark-haired man with glasses, vividly redheaded woman, and tiny dark-haired baby with bright green eyes. Some photos showed James's friends as well as his family.

Duo found several photo albums on a shelf, dusted them off, and glanced at a few captured images. One album was of Lily's youth, another of James and his parents. A third album held snapshots of their collective time at Hogwarts. The fourth album's cover was plated silver and proved to be their wedding photos, as well as leading up to the wedding apparently, plus the reception and honeymoon. The next volume was impressively thick thanks to seemingly countless images of baby Harry tucked in its pages.

Heero observed the knickknacks and contents of the dressers and closets. Well, as much as one can through the dust. The clothing in the dressers were somewhat protected as the drawers had been closed. The bedding was unidentifiable under the thick coating of dust, but the bed frame was a rather plain set made of metal bars. Metal that may or may not have been painted black; Heero didn't care enough to find out.

The teens gathered the photo albums and quietly departed the former home. As little as Harry remembered of that time, being only fifteen months old, the pair saw no reason to take anything else. The images preserved would be the only things to hold meaning to the boy, they reasoned.

Their trek out of the house and back onto the street was as uneventful as their trip in. Leaving the quaint town, the tolling of the church bell drew their eyes towards the graveyard. The little cemetery was enclosed by a wrought iron fence and evergreen bushes. Heero and Duo shared a glance before silently agreeing to look. The unspoken logic was that they would know where Harry's parents were buried if he were to ask.

Cemeteries weren't really available in the Colonies. The artificial satellites simply had too little space to accommodate the dead in such a way. Instead the deceased were either incinerated or launched into the void of space. So it was with some curiosity that the pair entered the graveyard. Weathered and worn headstones lined the rows, the inscriptions in various degrees of depths. Most of the stones were dated to be over fifty years old, Duo noted. Different styles and shapes dotted the yard, a few statues posed above some. At last they came across the surprisingly plain headstone of James and Lily Potter.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," Duo read the epitaph. "Well, that sounds creepy."

"Hn," Heero grunted in reply. He nodded to the gate, a sign to move out. They had accomplished what they came for.

The pair casually ambled out of the cemetery and towards the edge of town. Once far enough to not be easily seen by the townsfolk, Heero drew his wand from his forearm holster and held it aloft. Moments later a bang resounded, and the purple monstrosity known as the Knight Bus appeared. They paid their fare and braced themselves as best they could, remembering well their last ride just that morning.

Harry busied himself in the kitchen of Heero's flat. Hilde had let him off working earlier than the rest of the crew as some of the more tricky tasks had to be completed. So the boy headed up to the apartment, showered, dressed (and was still amazed to have new things, in his size no less), and had started on dinner.

The soon-to-be thirteen year old decided on pasta salad, baked fish, and green beans. Aside from pulling over a chair to reach the spice cabinet, preparing dinner went smoothly. _At least cooking for the Dursleys is proving to be useful experience_ , the boy mentally groused. In seemingly no time at all, the pasta salad was ready to be refrigerated. Harry then moved on to seasoning the fish fillets. The green beans were canned, so they only needed a touch of spices and microwaved. Once the fish was in the oven, the wizard set the table for three. Harry retrieved his Transfiguration book to study while the fish cooked.

Time inched forward as the boy reviewed some transfigurations that had given him trouble the previous year. He tried to concentrate but found himself distracted while awaiting his half brother, Heero. By the time the fish was ready, the Preventor agent had yet to return. Instead Hilde popped in for a visit, and the two shared dinner, careful to save servings for Heero and Duo. The food was plated and set into the refrigerator.

Hilde hung around, and they talked of their friends. Harry was careful to leave out the magical bits, but tried to stay true to events. The woman shared stories of running her own junkyard and meeting Duo.

At last bedtime rolled around, and yet the Preventor pair had yet to return. The teenage wizard drooped as he struggled to stay awake. With a sigh, Hilde marched the boy to his bed and ordered he sleep. She stepped out as Harry changed into his pajamas and returned to tuck him into bed. Before leaving for her own flat, the renovation manager flicked off all the lights but one lamp and wrote a note about the saved dinner in the fridge. She locked both the doorknob and deadbolt locks with her keys and planned a lecture for two brunette boys.

Duo and Heero crept into the flat with mastered stealth. The lone light of a lamp lit a note and cast long shadows along the walls. Heero read the note and used sign language to convey its contents to the other teen. Exhausted from their day, both brunettes sought Heero's room to change into sleep clothes before flopping onto the still-made bed. Sleep claimed them in seconds, with Duo curled onto his side and Heero flat on his back.

Morning came bright and early for Harry Potter. Hedwig, in an attempt to comfort her human, had burrowed a nest in his bedding so as to be close to him, so the wizard awoke to warm feathers against his shoulder. He smiled as he stroked the owl's head. Grasping his glasses, Harry carefully extracted himself from his covers so as not to disturb the slumbering owl, and padded to his bedroom door.

A quick peak shown the couch unoccupied. Tiptoeing to Heero's door, the green-eyed boy grinned at the sight of the two older boys cuddled on his half brother's bed. Duo clung to Heero as if he held a firm teddy bear or body pillow, while the other simply had an arm slung around his companion's shoulders.

Harry felt the tension of the previous night ease away, seeing his current guardians safe if a little undignified. He shook his head but did not disturb them. Instead, he simply returned to his room to continue to pet Hedwig, where he dosed back into sleep in minutes.

When next Harry Potter opened his eyes, Hedwig had returned to her perch by the window, and smells of cooking food waived in from the partially open door. He rubbed his bleary eyes and shoved his glasses back onto his face. A good scratch to his belly before he decided to investigate the cooking.

Heero stood at the stove, skillet in one hand and spatula in the other. Diced vegetables and meats sat to one side of the stove while a carton of eggs sat open close to a mixing bowl. Omlettes, Harry concluded.

"Good morning, Heero," the young wizard greeted. A tired grunt was returned in reply. "Did you have a difficult mission?"

"Nah," Duo answered, exiting bathroom. The American teen finger-combed his loose hair, clad in sweatpants and a T-shirt. "It was easy, just time-consuming. Annoying, too."

Harry tilted his head in curiosity, "Anything you can talk about?"

Duo shrugged. "Can't hurt to tell you. We were trying to convince the people in charge of the wizard prison to let us get the inmates into the FRA database. Aide from finding relatives, it would have the potential to solve some criminal cases."

"That makes sense to me," the bespectacled boy replied.

Heero interjected, "The issue lies with the prison's guards. They use creatures called Dementors instead of humans. Harry, would you set the table please." The perfect soldier continued to cook the omelets, unperturbed as the youngest boy complied. "Dementors are considered dark magical creatures, forcing their victims to suffer in mental anguish. There is a spell to repel the Dementors, which the few human guards would cast to deliver meals."

"Inhumane and very against Preventors regulation," Duo supplied. "We'd have to report the state of the prison to our boss, and the Wizarding ministry doesn't want that. Apparently it's easier to keep those things as guards than destroy the nasty buggers."

"Destroy them?" Harry parroted.

"They feed on emotions and suck out souls," Heero said calmly, too calmly. "The Ministry hasn't put forth any effort to learn how to destroy them, merely repel them using something called a Patronus Charm."

The long-haired teen shook his head ruefully. "The scavenger group I know has handcuffs that bind magic. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard for Preventors to acquire enough to transport the prisoners for FRA regestry. Unlike the wizards, _we_ won't skimp on manpower to ensure security."

Heero had a counter, of course. "The technology needs further testing in a magic-rich environment. The cuffs were used on the space colonies, where there is a much dispersed magical exposure."

The two older boys had an intense stare down as the egg mixture sizzled in the pan. Duo broke eye contact with a heavy sigh.

Harry cheerfully changed the subject to all the useful things he learned helping in the building.

 _ **AN:**_ **I admit, I have no idea when I will post the next chapter. But! Next time we'll see what Quatre has been up to and maybe catch up with WuFei**


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